ANTIQUITIES  AND  CURIOSITIES  OF 
THE  EXCHEQUER. 


%\ u Camto  ^ibrars- 


edited  by 

G.  LAURENCE  GOMME,  F.S.A. 
AND  ' 

t.  fairman  ordish,  f s.a. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/antiquitiescurio00hall_0 


‘ One  of  these  chests  still  survives,  being,  it  is  believed,  that  which  used  to 
contain  some  portion  of  the  regalia  together  with  Domesday  Book.  . . . This 
chest  was  undoubtedly  one  of  the  receptacles  of  the  old  Treasury  in  the  Abbey, 
whence  it  was  removed  to  the  Public  Record  Office  about  the  year  1857/ — 
Page  50. 


THE  CAMDEN  LIBRARY. 


THE  ANTIQUITIES 

Jin b (taiosities 

OF  THE  EXCHEQUER. 


BY 

HUBERT  HALL,  F.S.A., 

Of  H.M.  Public  Record  Office , Author  of  ‘ A History  of  the  Customs 
Revenue ‘ Society  in  the  Elizabetha.71  Age,'  etc . 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  RALPH  NEVILL,  F.S.A. 


AND  PREFACE 

BY  THE 

RT.  HON.  SIR  JOHN  LUBBOCK,  Bart.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A 


NEW  YORK: 

A.  C.  ARMSTRONG  & SON. 

LONDON:  ELLIOT  STOCK,  62,  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 


PREFACE. 


MR.  GOMME  proposes,  in  conjunction  with 
Mr.  Ordish,  to  issue  a series  of  volumes 
in  illustration  of  Ancient  English  History,  suited 
to  the  ordinary  reader  as  well  as  to  the  professed 
antiquary, mnd  he  has  asked  me  to  write  a short 
preface. 

I do  not  know  why  I should  have  been  selected, 
for,  although  I have  no  doubt  taken  a great 
interest  in  archaeology,  it  has  rather  been  that  of 
pre-historic  times.  Perhaps,  however,  it  is  partly 
because  my  friend,  Mr.  Gomme,  knows  that  I 
should  wish  to  do  anything  he  asks  me,  and  partly 
because  I have  been  for  many  years  a member,  and 
was  for  some  time  chairman,  of  the  Public  Accounts 
Committee,  and  may  therefore  be  supposed  to 
know  something  of  the  subject  dealt  with  in  the 
first  volume. 

This,  which  is  by  Mr.  Hubert  Hall,  of  the 
Public  Record  Office,  is  devoted  to  the  ‘ Antiqui- 


Vlll 


Preface . 


ties  and  Curiosities  of  the  Exchequer.’  It  will  be 
followed  by  others  on  Old  London  Theatres, 
English  Homes  in  the  Past,  Camden’s  Britannia, 
Monastic  Arrangement,  English  Armour,  Folk- 
Lore,  Church  Plate,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the 
English  People,  Parochial  Church-Life  in  Mediaeval 
England,  the  Streams  of  London,  Miniature  Por- 
trait-painting in  England,  etc. 

The  subjects  chosen  deal  with  the  real  history  of 
the  nation,  which,  as  is  now  generally  recognised, 
consists  less  of  the  struggles  of  war  than  of  the 
events  of  peace. 

The  records  of  the  ancient  treasury  of  the 
kings  of  England  are  not  only  interesting  to 
the  Financier,  but  are  enlivened  by  some  quaint 
yet  instructive  stories. 

For  instance,  a vivid  idea  of  the  primitive 
British  treasury  is  given  by  the  legend  of  4 The 
Thief  and  the  Treasury,’  of  Edward  the  Confessor. 
The  national  treasure,  it  appears,  at  that  time  was 
kept  in  the  royal  bedroom.  One  evening,  after  the 
king  had  gone  to  rest,  the  anxieties  of  state  kept 
him  awake.  Hugo,  the  chamberlain,  comes  into 
the  room,  takes  some  money  out  of  the  chest,  but 
forgets  to  lock  it  up.  Shortly  after,  the  scullion 
of  the  kitchen,  4 in  the  course  of  his  duties,’  enters 
the  royal  bedchamber,  sees  that  the  treasury  is 
open,  and,  thinking  the  king  was  asleep,  seizes 
as  much  money  as  he  can  carry  off.  He  comes 


Preface . 


IX 


back  a second  and  even  a third  time,  but  then  the 
king  heard  Hugo,  and  warned  the  thief : 

* Fly,  fellow,  for  well  I know 
That  Hugo  the  Chamberlain  is  coming  ; 

By  the  Mother  of  God,  assuredly 
He  will  not  leave  you  even  a halfpenny.’ 

Scarcely  less  curious  is  the  story  of  the  great 
robbery  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  by  Podelicote 
and  the  monks  of  Westminster,  who  became  so 
reckless  that  people  passing  the  gates  of  the 
Abbey  actually  picked  up  silver  cups  and  dishes, 
gold  ornaments  and  precious  stones,  and  the  very 
fishermen  of  Battersea  brought  up  silver  plate  in 
their  nets. 

The  royal  treasure  consisted  in  those  times  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  plate  and  precious  stones, 
which  in  the  then  state  of  the  coinage  could  be 
used  in  emergencies  almost  as  easily  as  money. 

Richard  II.  pawned  the  great  crown  to  the  City 
of  London  for  ^4,000. 

Mr.  Hall  gives  an  interesting  account  of  the 
famous  exchequer  table  and  the  curious  manner  in 
which  the  accounts  were  kept.  If  the  proceedings 
appear  to  us  absurdly  archaic,  we  must  remember 
that  the  wooden  ‘ tallies/  on  which  a large  notch 
represented  a thousand  pounds,  and  smaller  notches 
other  sums,  while  a halfpenny  was  denoted  by  a 
small  round  hole,  were  actually  in  use  at  the 
Exchequer  until  the  year  1824. 


X 


Preface . 

I have  in  my  own  possession  a ‘ tally  ’ represent- 
ing a sum  of  ^24,000,  advanced  to  the  Crown  by 
the  East  India  Company. 

I must  not,  however,  enter  into  details,  but  if 
the  succeeding  volumes  are  as  well  done  as  that  by 
Mr.  Hall,  the  series  will  be  both  valuable  and 
interesting. 

JOHN  LUBBOCK. 

High  Elms,  Down,  Kent, 

July,  1891. 


AUTHORS  PREFACE. 


THE  Exchequer  is  in  some  respects  the  most 
characteristic  of  all  our  national  institutions. 
It  is  certainly  the  stock  from  which  the  several 
branches  of  the  administration  originally  sprang, 
and  the  same  motive  for  its  existence,  namely,  the 
methodical  collection  and  disbursement  of  money, 
will  probably  be  found  to  underlie  the  commercial 
greatness  of  this  country.  Just  as  the  Exchequer 
was  the  earliest  -and  greatest  counting-house  in  the 
kingdom,  and  the  undoubted  model  of  all  financial 
operations,  baronial  or  municipal,  so  still  more  in 
the  exercise  of  its  control  of  trade,  in  the  regula- 
tion of  weights  and  measures,  and,  above  all,  in  the 
maintenance  of  an  unrivalled  standard  of  coinage, 
it  has  contributed  in  an  almost  immeasurable 
degree  towards  the  making  of  England. 

It  would  probably  surprise  many  people  to 
learn  that  the  Treasury  Board  and  the  Bank  of 
England  are  the  modern  representatives  of  the 


ancient  Exchequer,  the  one  representing  the  former 
department  of  the  lord  high  treasurer,  whose  hard- 
worked  deputy,  with  the  successive  titles  of  clerk, 
under-treasurer,  and  secretary  to  the  treasury,  is 
now  one  of  the  most  responsible  and  indispensable 
of  all  the  permanent  officers  of  the  state  ; the 
other  as  representing  the  clerical  functions  of  the 
Receipt  and  scriptorium,  under  the  supervision  of 
the  chamberlains  and  marshal.  It  is  true  that  the 
legal  department  of  the  Exchequer  survives  in  the 
title  of  a solitary  Baron  and  of  a Queen’s  Remem- 
brancer, who  is  also  reputed  the  last  of  his  race, 
but  with  the  extinction  of  these  two  offices  of 
state,  few  indeed  will  remain  with  an  antiquity 
earlier  than  the  reign  of  Edward  L,  and  of  these 
one  is  that  of  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer. 

Enough  has  been  said  here  to  indicate  the  im- 
portance and  interest  which  attach  to  the  Exchequer 
as  a national  institution.  It  is  in  the  hope  of 
drawing  attention  to  the  quaint  surroundings  and 
mystical  practice  of  this  ancient  court  that  the  fol- 
lowing pages  have  been  written.  This,  it  is  need- 
less to  say,  has  no  pretence  to  be  an  exhaustive 
treatise  on  the  subject  of  mediaeval  finance  or 
legal  antiquities.  The  history  of  the  Exchequer 
in  this  aspect  has  been  already  written  with  greater 
show  of  learning  than  that  bestowed  on  any  single 
institution  of  this  or  any  other  country,  but  at  the 
same  time  without  being  in  the.  least  degree  intelli- 


Preface . 


xm 


gible  to  other  than  equally  learned  readers.  It 
has  been  attempted  here  to  bring  together  a number 
of  original  theories,  announced  at  various  times 
by  the  author,  for  the  purpose  of  a reconstruction 
of  the  ancient  Exchequer,  its  treasury  and  house, 
with  their  chests  and  rolls  and  tallies  ; its  chess- 
board and  game  of  counters  wherein  the  annual 
Budget  was  figured  by  rude  and  visible  symbols  ; 
its  working  staff*,  and  all  the  chief  appurtenances 
of  its  mediaeval  existence.  This  account  may  not 
be  very  complete  nor  its  method  very  enlightened, 
but  at  least  it  was  urgently  needed  to  remove  the 
long-standing  reproach  of  a public  ignorance  of 
an  institution  which  was  before  Parliaments,  and 
which  will  endure  after  monarchy. 

Suppleat  igitur  defectum  meum  quicunque  voluerit> 
et  ignoscat. 

H.  H. 

London, 

March  24,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

THE  ANCIENT  TREASURY  OF  THE  KINGS  OF  ENGLAND-  I 


CHAPTER  II. 

TREASURE  AND  RECORDS  - - - - -38 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EXCHEQUER  HOUSE  - - - - - 62 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER  - - - 77 


CHAPTER  V. 


- 1 14 


THE  CHESS-GAME 


XVI 


Contents , 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PAGE 

EXCHEQUER  PROBLEMS  - - - - - 1 35 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  BUDGET  - - - - 175 


\ 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHEST  IN  WHICH  DOMESDAY  BOOK  WAS  KEPT  - frontispiece 
SKETCH-PLAN  OF  THE  PALACE  AND  ABBEY  PRECINCTS. 

WESTMINSTER  - - . _ . - 31 

A HANAPER  OR  HAMPER-  - . . .5? 

A SKIPPET  52 

SYMBOLIC  DEVICES  USED  FOR  DISTINGUISHING  VARIOUS 


CHESTS  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER  - 55-58 

THE  CHESS-BOARD  WITH  THE  PIECES  ‘SET’  - - 1 15 

EXCHEQUER  TALLIES  - - - - - 12 1 

COUNTERS  - - - - _ - 128-129,  146 

THE  SYMBOLS  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER  - - - IJ2 

SEAL  OF  ALPHONSO  OF  CASTILLE  - - - 163 

GOLDEN  BULL  OF  POPE  CLEMENT  VI L - - - j 7 1 

SEAL  OF  FRANCIS  I.  - - - - - ^ 1 1 


NOTES  TO  THE  ILLUSTRATIONS 


219 


ANTIQUITIES  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER. 


THE  ANCIENT  TREASURY  OF  THE  KINGS  OF 
ENGLAND. 

HE  author  of  the  most  exact  and  scientific 


treatise  on  the  revenue  of  this  or  any  other 
country,  Richard  Fitz-Neale,  the  king’s  treasurer, 
and  Bishop  of  London  in  the  reign  of  Richard  I., 
when  asked  by  a youthful  colleague  to  define  the 
term  ‘ treasury,’  replied,  by  the  Scriptural  figure, 
that  it  would  be  found  near  the  heart  of  its  royal 
owner.  The  saying  was  more  literally  true  than  at 
first  appears  to  us,  not  only  on  account  of  the  reality 
of  the  power  of  the  purse,  and  of  the  responsibili- 
ties which  its  possession  entailed  upon  sovereigns 
who  were  their  own  chancellors  of  the  exchequer 
and  paymasters-general,  but  also  because  within 
the  strong  doors  of  this  jealously-guarded  chamber 
of  the  royal  castle  or  abbey  there  were  preserved 


CHAPTER  I 


2 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

side  by  side  with  sacks  or  money-chests  the  legal 
records  of  the  kingdom,  which  every  justice-loving 
king  valued  at  their  true  worth,  the  great  seal 
which  has  been  found  indispensable  for  any  form 
of  government,  even  to  an  anarchy,  and  those 
regalia,  robes  of  state,  and  other  apparatus,  whose 
appearance  marked  the  welcome  revolutions  of  the 
three  great  yearly  feasts. 

Now,  the  interpretation  of  the  good  bishop’s 
parable  is  this,  that  the  king’s  treasury  would  be 
found  constantly  near  his  own  person — that  is  to 
say,  within  the  recesses  of  his  official  residence — 
only  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  identify  the  par- 
ticular residence  in  question  before  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century. 

The  confusion  which  has  always  prevailed  on 
this  point  is  almost  entirely  owing  to  the  practice 
of  old  writers  of  employing  the  word  ‘ treasury  ’ 
as  a collective  term.  In  truth  they  went  so  far 
as  to  make  ‘ treasury  ’ and  ‘ treasure  ’ interchange- 
able words, # or,  rather,  they  used  the  latter  word 
exclusively  in  both  senses.  It  is  possible,  however, 
to  differentiate  the  term  so  as  to  distinguish  three 
distinct  receptacles.  There  was  first  the  king’s 
chamber  with  its  ‘ hoard,’  which  is  the  ancestor  of 
the  modern  privy  purse.  Secondly,  there  was  the 
state  treasury,  located  at  some  official  centre,  such 

* ‘ Quod  Thesaurus  interdum  dicitur  ipsa  pecunia,  inter- 
dum  locus  in  quo  recipitur.’ — Dialogus , i.  14. 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  3 

as  Westminster  or  Winchester.  Thirdly,  there 
were  several  more  or  less  permanent  but  wholly 
subsidiary  treasuries  in  several  provincial  towns, 
and  seemingly  in  the  royal  castles  there.  Of  these 
the  chamber-treasury*  naturally  followed  the  king’s 
progress  either  abroad  or  from  one  hunting  palace 
to  another,  and  although  its  operations  were 
frequently  on  a large  scale,  the  bulk  of  treasure 
was  necessarily  limited  by  the  exigencies  of  medi- 
aeval conveyance,  so  that  payments  for  the  king’s 
service  were  usually  made  by  an  elaborate  system 
of  assignment.  This  was  effected  in  the  following 
way  : During  the  king’s  progress  the  personal 
requirements  of  himself  and  his  courtiers  were 
provided  for  by  means  of  orders  upon  the  pro- 
vincial officers,  who  in  turn  were  allowed  upon 
their  annual  accounts  for  supplying  so  many 
quarters  of  grain  or  bacons,  for  clothing  and 
armour,  and  even  for  building  operations  or  the 
entertainment  of  royal  visitors.  Indeed,  for  half  a 
century  after  the  Conquest  there  could  have  been 
very  little  need  of  a central  treasury  at  all,  since 
the  greater  part  of  these  provisions  formed  an 
intrinsic  portion  of  the  revenue  itself — that  is  to 
say,  the  beeves  and  bacons  and  corn  which  main- 
tained good  cheer  at  the  court,  and  thus  accounted 
for  a large  part  of  the  royal  expenditure,  were  not 
paid  for  by  the  sheriff  or  bailiff,  but  collected  or 

* Camera  cur  ice. 

I 2 


4 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


advanced  as  an  instalment  of  the  revenue,  which 
was  still  payable  in  kind.  This  point  is  both  im- 
portant and  interesting,  and  has  been  hitherto 
somewhat  overlooked  by  economic  writers.  The 
fact  (which  is  probable  in  itself)  rests  on  high 
authority — that  of  the  famous  treasurer  of  the 
first  two  Plantagenet  kings  ; but  when  the  utmost 
allowance  has  been  made  for  the  consuming  powers 
of  the  royal  household,  it  will  be  evident  that 
the  surplus  revenue  must  eventually  have  been 
amassed  and  dealt  with  in  some  other  way.  It 
is  at  this  point  that  the  central  treasury  in  the 
principal  palace  of  the  Saxon  and  Norman  kings 
comes  into  play,  supplemented  for  convenience 
of  collection  or  distribution  by  the  provincial 
treasuries  before  alluded  to. 

The  king’s  Palace  of  Westminster  appears  to 
have  possessed  such  a central  treasury  even  before 
the  Conquest.  There  is  no  official  record  of  this 
fact,  but  the  descriptive  hints  gathered  from  the 
work  of  a monk  of  Westminster,  writing  within 
a century  of  its  reputed  existence,  may  be  fairly 
held  to  have  been  inspired  by  a local  tradition. 
The  writer  in  question  is  Osbert,  Prior  of  West- 
minster in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  whose  4 Life  and 
Miracles  of  the  Confessor  ’ formed  the  basis  of  the 
better-known  work  of  Ailred  of  Rievaulx,  and 
the  metrical  4 Life  ’ of  the  next  century.  In  the 
version  last  named  we  have  several  most  interest- 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  5 

ing  notices  of  a treasury  at  Westminster.  There 
was  here  a ‘ hoard/  situated,  according  to  a custom 
which  long  survived,  in  the  actual  bedchamber  of 
the  sovereign.  A good  idea  of  the  extent  and  use 
of  this  primitive  department  may  be  obtained 
from  the  following:  legend  of  ‘ The  Thief  in  the 

o o 

Treasury 

Legend  of  the  Thief  in  the  Treasury.* 

‘ One  day  it  came  about  by  chance, 

After  much  counsel  and  care, 

Lying  on  his  bed  he  could  not  sleep, 

Nevertheless  he  reposed  himself, 

And  supported  his  drooping  head. 

Now  arrived  Hugelin 

The  chamberlain,  who  takes  some  money, 

Carries  off  as  much  as  he  wished 
To  pay  to  his  seneschals, 

To  his  caterers  and  marshals, 

But  in  his  haste  he  forgets 
That  he  shuts  not  the  chest. 

The  scullion  of  the  kitchen 
Goes  to  do  his  office, 

Well  believes  that  asleep  is 
The  king,  and  seizes  the  money. 

He  goes  to  conceal  them,  and  then  returns. 

And  takes  as  much  and  conceals  them  at  once. 

And  a third  time,  for  he  had  no  fear 
Of  Hugelin,  who  delays  for  long. 

He  desires  to  take  a large  portion  of  the  money. 

The  king  sees  all,  who  is  not  asleep. 

Who  in  spirit  sees  that  quickly 

* From  Dr.  Luard’s  translation  in  the  ‘ Life  of  Edward  the 
Confessor’  (Rolls  Series). 


6 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

Afterwards  there  the  officer  would  come, 

And  says,  “Fly,  fellow,  for  well  I know 
That  Hugo  the  chamberlain  is  coming  ; 

By  the  Mother  of  God,  assuredly 
He  will  not  leave  you  even  a halfpenny.” 

He  departed  without  speaking  a word  ; 

The  king  gives  him  leave  to  go  in  peace. 

The  chamberlain  afterwards  returns, 

And  sees  at  a glance  the  theft, 

By  a great  mark  which  he  finds  there, 

Proves  that  the  injury  has  been  done  there. 

He  sees  the  diminution. 

And  perceives  that  the  king  is  awake  ; 

Then  like  one  astonished  he  cries  out 
“ Harro  !”  but  the  king  rebukes  him.’ 

Besides  this  treasury  of  the  chamber,  there  is 
evidence  of  a regular  treasury  also,  apparently,  at 
Westminster.  Another  legend  of  the  Confessor’s 
life  describes  his  inspection  of  this  chamber. under 
the  guidance  of  his  treasurer,  and  mentions  ‘ large 
and  full  barrels  ’ of  money  ranged  round  the  walls, 
on  one  of  which  the  king  perceived  a devil  seated, 
a sight  which  confirmed  him  in  his  dislike  of  those 
financial  processes  which  were  even  then  beginning 
to  lay  the  foundations  of  the  power  of  the  purse. 
Therefore,  he  remitted  the  Danegeld  ; but  even 
without  this  source  of  revenue,  we  read  that  : 

‘ With  gold  and  silver  he  wTas  provided, 

And  thus  was  much  more  feared.’ 

Harold,  on  the  other  hand,  is  described,  charac- 
teristically, by  the  monkish  biographer  as  delighting 
in  this  increase  of  the  revenue : 


Ancient  Treasury  o f the  Kings  o f England.  7 


‘ Money  he  amasses  like  a usurer, 

To  despoil  his  people  he  ceases  not. 

Like  a justice  at  the  treasury 
He  sits  to  count  the  money.’ 

This  last  picture  of  the  royal  treasury  as  an 
organized  department  of  the  state  is  very  striking, 
and  it  may  fairly  be  compared  with  the  similar 
practice  in  vogue  during  the  reign  of  Henry  I., 
or  even  earlier,  when  the  sheriffs’  accounts  were 
audited,  and  other  business  transacted,  at  the 
central  treasury,  as  distinguished  from  the  peripa- 
tetic curia. 

One  more  passage  of  this  metrical  history  may 
be  quoted  in  proof  of  the  official  importance  of 
Westminster,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  the  sugges- 
tion contained  therein  that  this  central  treasury 
may  have  been  situated  in  the  abbey  rather  than 
in  the  palace  itself. 

‘And  the  church  at  Westminster, 

Which  has  no  equal  in  the  kingdom 
* * * 

And  it  has  the  dignity  of  the  regalia , 

Whence  I say  it  has  no  equal.’ 

Westminster  appears  thus  early  as  the  official 
residence  (so  to  speak)  of  the  English  kings,  and 
this  position  was  improved  rather  than  diminished 
during  the  next  century.  The  Confessor’s  palace, 
itself  an  innovation  upon  native  architecture,  was 
extended  by  the  ambition  or  policy  of  his  Norman 
successors,  and  it  is  important  to  notice  that  this 


8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


extension  took  the  form  chiefly  of  apartments  of 
state,  the  great  hall  of  Rufus,  that  is  to  say,  and 
those  buildings  adjacent  which  have  been  used 
from  time  immemorial  for  official  purposes.  Of 
course  it  is  quite  possible  that  this  official  aspect 
of  the  ancient  palace  may  be  a purely  secondary 
one  ; that  the  great  hall  was  designed  simply  as  a 
banqueting-house,  and  that  the  exchequer-house 
(if  it  then  existed  at  all)  was  a lean-to  structure  in 
the  nature  of  a domestic  office.  In  any  case  the 
treasury  would  at  first  have  been  situated  within 
the  interior  of  the  palace,  or,  according  to  an  alter- 
native theory,  within  the  cloisters  of  the  adjacent 
abbey. 

Although  Westminster  possessed  an  irresistible 
attraction  to  a pious  sovereign  through  the 
vicinity  of  a favoured  church,  Norman  kings 
engrossed  in  the  pleasures  of  the  chase,  and 
constantly  embroiled  in  Continental  wars,  found 
the  ancient  Saxon  capital  of  Winchester  better 
adapted  for  the  pursuit  of  sport  as  well  as  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  foreign  communications 
through  the  proximity  of  the  great  mediaeval  sea- 
port, Southampton.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
for  the  next  fifty  years  at  least  the  royal  treasury, 
with  the  regalia  and  records,  were  deposited  here 
more  or  less  permanently  in  the  treasury  of  the 
royal  castle.  There  was  formerly  a tradition  of 
this  treasury  having  been  situated  in  the  church, 


Ancient  'Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  9 

chiefly  owing  to  the  fanciful  derivation  of  the  title 
of  ‘ Domesday  Book  ’ from  Domus  Dei , this 
national  record  having  been  always  preserved  in 
the  royal  treasury.  It  is  certainly  true  that  the 
word  is  once  written  thus  by  a twelfth-century 
scribe,  but  the  church  in  question  would  more 
probably  have  been  that  of  Westminster,  and  in 
any  case  the  etymology  is  a false  one.  A very 
interesting  narrative  of  a trial  which  took  place  in 
the  treasury  at  Winchester  Castle  is  preserved  in 
the  chronicle  of  Abingdon,  which  clearly  proves 
the  existence  of  a central  department  of  revenue 
there  between  the  years  1108  and  1 1 1 3 . 

The  tradition  of  an  earlier  age  has  fixed  the  site 
of  the  treasury  of  the  kings  of  England  at  West- 
minster equally  with  Winchester,  and  with  this 
treasury  the  same  tradition  connects  the  first  germ 
of  an  audit  of  the  revenue.  The  subject  is  one 
of  great  difficulty,  arising  from  the  obscurity  of 
description  which  characterizes  contemporary  re- 
ferences to  date  and  scene  of  action,  but  it  is  at 
least  possible  to  evolve  a reasonable  theory  in 
explanation  of  the  conflicting  evidence  of  a 
treasury  existing  at  more  than  one  centre  during 
the  reign  of  Henry  II. 

In  the  first  place  we  must  remember  that  the 
treasury  as  a department  of  the  re-organized 

* ‘Chronicles  of  Abingdon,’  ii.  115-6,  quoted  by  Mr.  J. 
H.  Round  in  the  Antiquary , July,  1887. 


IO 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Exchequer  was  nominally  bound  to  follow  the 
king’s  progress  from  one  city  or  hunting-palace  to 
another.  We  actually  find  the  chief  contents  of  the 
treasury — bullion,  plate  or  regalia,  and  records — 
moved,  on  several  occasions,  with  great  labour 
and  at  a heavy  expense,  from  Westminster  or 
Winchester  to  the  temporary  abode  of  the  court, 
or  even  beyond  sea. 

The  explanation  of  this  inconvenient  practice 
is,  probably,  to  be  found  in  the  purely  personal 
nature  of  this  establishment,  which,  like  the  king’s 
court,  had,  as  we  have  seen,  its  first  origin  in  the 
informal  session  of  the  household  officers  in  the 
very  chamber  of  the  palace.  In  the  course  of  a 
century,  however,  this  crude  system  had  been  so 
far  refined  upon  that  the  treasury  had  now  an  inde- 
pendent existence  at  two  permanent  centres.  The 
court  or  Exchequer,  being  unincumbered  with 
official  baggage,  could  meet  in  one  palace  as  well 
as  another,  while  the  personal  or  immediate  wants 
of  the  king  were  supplied  out  of  the  chamber- 
treasury,  as  of  old.  But  it  would  still  happen  on 
certain  occasions,  usually  connected  with  warlike 
operations,  and  as  late  as  the  reign  of  the  third 
Edward,  that  the  whole  ‘ plant  ’ of  the  Exchequer 
and  the  treasury  with  it  was  removed  to  some 
distant  city.  Otherwise,  however,  the  royal 
treasure  was  both  hoarded  and  audited  at  West- 
minster or  Winchester,  and  the  only  important 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  1 1 


point  is  which  of  these  two  cities  should  be 
regarded  as  the  official  seat  of  the  central  treasury. 

As  the  question  which  arises  here  can  only  be 
decided  by  reference  to  contemporary  notices 
gleaned  from  the  few  surviving  records  of  the 
period,  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  arrange 
these  brief  entries  in  tabular  form,  so  that  the 
reader  will  be  able  to  see  at  a glance  the  normal 
position  of  the  treasury  down  to  the  close  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  II. : 


Notices  of  the  Position  of  the  King’s  Treasury  before 

AND  DURING  THE  REIGN  OF  HENRY  II. 


1052 1066. 

1066 I I54. 

10 66 — i 154. 

1066 IIS4- 

I IOO H54. 

1130. 

II4I. 

IIS5* 

1155. 

1155- 


Legends  connected  with  the  life  of  the  Con- 
fessor, surviving  from  the  twelfth  century, 
which  refer  to  a treasury  at  Westminster. 

Tradition  pointing  to  the  existence  of  a trea- 
sury in  the  palace  and  abbey  there. 

Archaeology  of  the  above  buildings  confirming 
the  statement  as  to  their  antiquity. 

William  I.,  Henry  I.,  Stephen,  and  Henry  II., 
crowned  at  Westminster. 

The  king’s  treasury  at  Winchester  in  1100, 
1 108-1 1 13,  and  1135. 

The  ministry  of  the  king’s  treasury  at  Win- 
chester held  by  Geoffrey  de  Clinton. 

Siege  of  Winchester  during  the  civil  wars. 
The  treasure  and  records  probably  conveyed 
to  Westminster  for  safety. 

Repairs  to  the  Exchequer  houses  at  West- 
minster. 

Grant  of  office  and  payments  to  Roger,  Usher 
of  the  treasury  at  Westminster. 

Pardon  to  Gervase  of  the  treasury  at  Winchester. 


12 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

1156.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Cricklade  and  beyond 
sea  from  Winchester. 

1156.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Shoreham  and  beyond 

sea  from  Westminster. 

1157.  Regalia  conveyed  to  St.  Edmunds  and  beyond 

sea  from  Winchester. 

1158.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Carlisle  and  beyond 

sea  from  Winchester. 

1158.  Regalia  (and  tallies)  conveyed  to  Worcester 
from  Winchester. 

1158.  Wax  conveyed  to  Clarendon  from  Winchester. 

1158.  Tallies  conveyed  to  Westminster  from  Win- 

chester. 

1 1 59.  Treasure  conveyed  beyond  sea  from  Winchester. 

1160.  Treasure  conveyed  (from  the  Exchequer)  to 

Winchester. 

1 1 6 1 . Record  chest  conveyed  to  London  from  Win- 

chester. 

1 1 61.  Treasure  conveyed  beyond  sea  from  Win- 

chester. 

1162.  Treasure  conveyed  beyond  sea  from  Win- 

chester. 

1162.  Payment  to  Roger  Usher  of  the  treasury  at 
Westminster. 

1162.  Records  conveyed  from  Hertford  to  West- 
minster. 

1 162.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Southampton  and  London 
from  Winchester. 

1 162.  Wax  for  the  summonses  provided  at  Winchester. 

1162.  For  conveying  the  Danegeld  to  or  from  Win- 

chester. 

1163.  For  conveying  treasure  to  or  from  Winchester. 

1163,  Plate  conveyed  to  Berkhampstead  for  Christ- 

mas from  Winchester. 

1164.  Record  chest  conveyed  to  London  (Easter) 

from  Winchester. 


Ancient  ’Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  13 


1164.  Record  chest  conveyed  to  Northampton 
(Michaelmas)  from  Winchester. 

1164.  The  Exchequer  held  at  Westminster  (Michael- 

mas). 

1165.  Treasure  conveyed  to  various  places  from 

Winchester. 

1166.  Treasure  conveyed  to  various  places  from 

Winchester. 

1169.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Southampton  from  Win- 

chester. 

1170.  Treasure  (and  regalia)  conveyed  to  South- 

ampton from  Winchester. 

1170.  The  treasury  chest  conveyed  from  Wycombe 
to  Westminster. 

1 170.  Treasure,  records,  tallies,  and  regalia  conveyed 
from  Winchester. 

1170.  The  Exchequer  held  at  Winchester. 

1 17 1.  Treasure  chests  conveyed  from  London  to 

Winchester. 

1172.  Treasure  conveyed  during  the  whole  year  from 

Winchester. 

1173.  Treasure  conveyed  back  to  Winchester  from 

Southampton. 

1173.  Treasurer’s  clerk  sent  abroad  with  treasure. 
1173.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Normandy  and  back. 

1173.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester  and  else- 

where from  Westminster. 

1174.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester  and  else- 

where from  Westminster. 

1174.  Treasure  (and  hawks,  etc.)  conveyed  during 
the  whole  year  from  Winchester. 

1174.  The  clerk  of  the  chamber  and  sergeants  of 

the  treasury  sent  abroad  with  treasure  from 
Winchester. 

1175.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Gloucester  from  West- 

minster. 


14  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


II 76.  Treasure  returned  to  London. 

1 176.  Charter  dated  at  the  Exchequer  at  Westminster. 

1177.  The  treasury  and  records  established  at  West- 

minster. 

1 177.  Treasure  conveyed  from  London  to  Winchester, 
and  from  Winchester  to  Clarendon  and  Por- 
chester  and  back  to  London. 

11 77.  Easter  Exchequer  at  Westminster. 

1177.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester  and  back 
to  London. 

1177.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester  from  West- 
minster. 

1177.  Treasury  at  Winchester  repaired. 

1 179.  Treasure  conveyed  to  London  from  Winchester. 

1179.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester  from  West- 
minster. 

1179.  Plate  conveyed  to  Southampton  from  Winches- 
ter. 

1179.  Treasure  conveyed  after  the  king  from  West- 

minster. 

1180.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Woodstock  from  West- 

minster. 

1 180.  Dies  conveyed  from  Westminster  and  returned. 
1 1 80.  Treasure  conveyed  to  London  from  Winchester. 
1180.  Treasury  implements  purchased  at  Winchester. 
1180.  Exchequer  at  Westminster,  Michaelmas. 

1 1 80.  Treasure  sent  out  from  Westminster  to  different 

mints  throughout  England  to  be  recoined  and 
returned  there. 

1 1 8 1 . Plate  sent  out  from  Westminster. 

1 18 1.  Treasure  conveyed  to  Winchester,  where  the 
king  kept  Christmas. 

1183.  Exchequer  at  Westminster. 

1184.  Exchequer  at  Westminster. 

1184.  Charter  dated  at  the  King’s  Chapel  at  West- 
minster. 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  1 5 


1185.  Treasure  conveyed  throughout  England  from 
Westminster. 

1185.  Plate  conveyed  throughout  England  from  West- 
minster. 

1185.  Treasure  now  sent  direct  to  Southampton. 

1186.  Treasure  now  sent  direct  to  Southampton. 

1186.  New  furniture  for  the  Winchester  treasury. 

1187.  The  swords  of  the  Winchester  treasury  fur- 

bished. 

1187.  Treasure  conveyed  abroad  from  Winchester. 

It  is  evident  from  the  description  of  the  author 
of  the  Dialogus , himself  the  king’s  treasurer,  that 
the  Exchequer  and  the  treasury  were  both  at  one 
centre.  In  the  first  place,  this  treatise  was  written 
in  a certain  apartment  of  the  king’s  palace  at 
Westminster,  close  to  the  site  occupied  by  the 
Exchequer  from  time  immemorial.  In  the  second 
place,  there  are  numberless  allusions  in  the  body 
of  the  work  to  a treasury  situated  in  close  proxi- 
mity to  this  Exchequer.  Thirdly,  we  know  that 
there  were  Exchequer  houses  at  Westminster  so 
old  as  to  be  in  need  of  repair  at  the  accession 
of  Henry  II.  Finally,  there  is  the  unique 
evidence  of  a suitor  of  the  period,  verified  by 
the  Pipe  Rolls,  that  he  paid  certain  sums  into 
the  Treasury  of  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer 
in  the  eleventh  year  of  this  reign,  and  it  can  be 
shown  by  a curious  coincidence  that  he  made 
these  payments  at  Westminster ; while  only  a 
few  years  later  we  find  in  the  Pipe  Rolls 


1 6 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


the  first  of  a regular  series  of  payments  for 
furniture  for  the  Exchequer  out  of  the  farm  of 
London. 

Moreover,  this  Westminster  treasury  was  no 
secondary  or  temporary  structure,  but  the  fixed 
receptacle  of  the  treasure-chests,  records,  and 
great  seal,  therefore  obviously  the  principal 
treasury  of  the  kingdom.  It  is  necessary  to 
enlarge  upon  these  simple  facts,  because  the  very 
existence  of  this  early  treasury  has  been  absolutely 
and  authoritatively  denied. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  the  above  table  that 
there  was  undoubtedly  a central  treasury  still 
existing  at  Winchester.  The  Dialogus  informs 
us  that  tellers  of  the  treasure  were  constantly 
employed  there.  In  fact,  they  were  merely 
summoned  to  Westminster  during  the  sessions  of 
the  Exchequer  to  assist  the  resident  staff  in  the 
work  of  counting  the  incoming  revenue,  their 
services  being  subsequently  required  at  Winchester 
for  the  purpose  of  paying  out  the  large  drafts 
transmitted  thither  for  the  expenses  of  the  court 
or  camp.  Winchester  may  thus  be  regarded  as 
an  emporium  in  connection  wdth  the  transport  of 
bullion  (and  especially  of  the  regalia  and  plate), 
as  well  as  other  supplies,  via  Southampton  or 
other  seaports,  to  the  Continent,  during  the  almost 
incessant  wars  of  the  first  twenty  years  of  the 
reign.  After  the  great  rebellion  of  1 173-4,  how- 


Ancient  'Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England . 1 7 


ever,  a change  of  practice  seems  to  have  taken 
place,  coinciding  with  the  reorganization  of  the 
Curia  and  Exchequer  in  the  interests  of  the  crown, 
and  the  prominence  of  the  official  element,  with 
its  permanent  head-quarters  henceforth  at  West- 
minster. Similarly,  with  the  renewal  of  the  war,  at 
the  close  of  the  reign,  the  treasury  at  Winchester 
was  once  more  largely  utilized  ; but,  having  fallen 
into  decay,  it  required  certain  structural  repairs 
and  a new  plant,  while  the  treasury  swords 
actually  required  to  be  cleansed  of  the  rust  which 
they  had  contracted  during  the  ten  years  or  more 
that  the  chamberlains  and  clerks  had  been  in 
permanent  residence  at  Westminster/''* 

It  must  be  remembered,  in  connection  with  the 
term  ‘ treasure/  that  two  different  species  of 
bullion  were  included  therein,  namely,  coin  and 
plate,  including  regalia  and  jewels.  It  is  most 
probable,  therefore,  that  both  species  were  separ- 
ately hoarded  (as  they  undoubtedly  were  a century 
later),  and  that  the  Winchester  treasury  was 
specially  designed  to  accommodate  the  latter,  until 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  after  which  date 
a permanent  repository  was  provided  for  them  in 

* These  swords,  which  were  used  on  occasions  of  state, 
may  have  been  returned  from  Westminster  after  the  corona- 
tion of  the  younger  Henry,  in  1170,  to  Winchester,  since  they 
were  preserved  there  in  1187.  The  same  remark  applies  to 
crowns  and  plate,  etc. 


2 


1 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

the  Abbey  of  Westminster.  The  coined  treasure, 
oh  the  other  hand,  was  throughout  received  and 
hoarded  at  Westminster,  in  the  treasury  of  the 
Receipt  of  the  Exchequer,  in  company  with  the 
great  seal  and  records,  being  drafted  thence  as 
required  into  the  local  treasuries,  the  king’s 
chamber,  or,  a generation  later,  the  Wardrobe. 
This  will  account  for  no  mention  being  found  of 
regalia  or  plate  in  the  treasury  described  in  the 
Dialogus , and  agrees  with  the  notices  of  regalia 
issued  from  and  returned  to  Winchester  in  the 
Pipe  Rolls.  We  shall  see  presently  that  the 
entire  contents  of  the  treasury  of  the  Wardrobe 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  later,  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  I.,  consisted  of  regalia,  plate,  and  jewels. 

During  the  king’s  absence  in  Scotland,  in  the 
years  1301  to  1303,  the  royal  palace  seems  to  have 
been  left,  as  usual,  in  the  custody  of  a caretaker, 
who,  according  to  a custom  at  least  as  ancient  as 
the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  was  also 
the  keeper  of  the  Fleet  Prison.  There  should 
also  have  been  the  ushers  of  the  two  Exchequer 
houses  in  residence  during  the  vacation  or  absence 
of  the  court,  for  we  know  on  the  authority  of  a 
record  of  a few  years’  later  date,*  that  the  JBarons 
formally  committed  the  custody  of  these  premises 
to  the  above  subordinate  officers  at  the  end  of 
every  term,  with  directions  for  the  safe-keeping  of 
* L.  T.  R.  Memoranda,  5 Edward  II. 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  19 

their  contents.  In  the  present  instance,  however, 
owing  to  the  transfer  of  the  Exchequer  to  York, 
the  keeper  of  the  palace,  with  his  servants,  was  in 
sole  charge.  Now,  the  treasury  of  the  Receipt 
containing  the  chests  of  coined  money  and  records 
being,  as  we  have  seen,  attached  to  the  Exchequer, 
the  remaining  treasure,  which  comprised  an  accu- 
mulation of  historic  jewels,  the  regalia,  and  the 
sumptuous  plate  used  for  the  service  of  the  king’s 
chapel  and  table,  seems  to  have  been  deposited  in 
another  treasury,  situated  within  the  precincts  of 
the  adjacent  abbey.  Possibly,  indeed,  some  such 
treasury  had  been  in  use  for  a similar  purpose 
since  the  days  of  the  Confessor.  About  four  years 
previous  to  the  date  of  the  following  narrative 
an  ugly  rumour  had  been  spread  of  an  attempt 
to  break  into  this  treasury,  an  incident  which 
was  further  reported  to  have  been  hushed  up 
through  the  intercession  of  the  abbot.  No  more 
was  heard  of  the  matter,  and  the  king  seems  to 
have  set  out  from  London  in  August  of  the 
year  1302,  leaving  a treasure  valued  at  more  than 
^100,000  virtually  in  the  custody  of  the  monks 
of  Westminster,  whose  late  abbot  had,  it  is  only 
fair  to  say,  held  the  post  of  treasurer.  What 
occurred  during  the  next  eight  months  will  never 
be  precisely  known,  but  some  time  in  the  month 
of  May  following  it  began  to  leak  out  that  persons 
whose  business  or  curiosity  took  them  within  the 

2 — 2 


20 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


gates  of  the  palace  and  abbey  had  for  some  time 
past  been  picking  up  silver  cups  and  dishes,  gold 
ornaments  and  precious  stones,  round  the  walls  of 
the  palace,  and  in  the  cemetery  adjacent  to  the 
chapter-house  and  to  St.  Margaret’s  Church. 
The  very  fishermen  of  Battersea  brought  up  silver 
plate  in  their  nets.  These  lucky  finds  were  passed 
from  hand  to  hand,  often  for  a few  pence.  Re- 
ceivers of  such  treasure-trove  have  never  been 
wanting  in  any  age,  and  soon  the  stores  of  half 
the  goldsmiths  in  London  were  glutted  with  what 
were  discovered  by  inquisition  to  be  the  principal 
contents  of  the  royal  treasury.  At  length  news 
of  these  strange  proceedings  reached  the  ears  of 
the  king,  who  was  then  at  Linlithgow.  He  at 
once  despatched  a writ  to  four  trusty  officers  to 
inquire  into  the  circumstances  of  the  robbery, 
secure  the  treasure-trove,  and  arrest  the  guilty 
persons.  This  was  on  June  6,  130 3.  The  com- 
missioners set  to  work  without  delay,  and  an 
inquiry  was  commenced  on  a more  extensive  scale 
than  probably  was  ever  attempted  in  a criminal 
case  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

In  the  first  place,  on  Wednesday  after  the 
Octave  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  ten  juries  from  the 
wards  of  the  City  were  assembled  at  the  Bishop  of 
London’s  hospice,  and  stated  their  knowledge  of 
the  matter  on  oath.  On  the  same  day  a jury  of 
goldsmiths  and  the  aldermen  of  London  were 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  2 1 


assembled  at  the  Guildhall  for  a similar  purpose. 
On  the  Friday  following  six  juries  of  the  county 
of  Middlesex  and  two  juries  of  Westminster  made 
similar  presentations  in  Westminster  Hall.  Seven 
juries  of  Surrey  were  assembled  at  Southwark  on 
the  following  day,  together  with  the  boatmen  of  the 
Thames.  Other  juries  from  the  neighbourhoods 
of  Westminster  and  Fleet  Street  were  convened  at 
the  Temple  at  Lammas-tide.  The  palace  officers 
were  also  separately  examined  at  a later  date.  As 
the  result  of  these  presentments,  a large  number  of 
persons  were  committed  to  the  Tower  and  other 
prisons,  on  grave  suspicion  of  complicity  with  the 
perpetrators  of  the  robbery,  including  a certain 
pedlar  believed  to  be  the  principal  culprit,  the 
keeper  of  the  palace,  the  subprior,  cellarer  and 
sacristan  of  the  abbey,  seven  monks,  six  lay 
brethren,  ten  merchants  of  London,  and  several 
women  of  ill-fame.  In  addition  to  this  the  abbot, 
with  other  officers  of  the  abbey,  and  several  others, 
were  compelled  to  find  sureties.  The  broken 
plate  and  jewels  already  recovered  were  scheduled 
and  placed  for  safety  in  the  Tower,  Guildhall,  and 
Wardrobe. 

In  accordance  with  a further  mandate  of  the 
crown,  dated  November  10,  a final  inquiry  was 
held  by  several  of  the  king’s  justices,  and  the 
several  juries  already  convened  were  once  more 
brought  up  in  January  of  1304. 


22 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


Their  presentments  were  very  much  to  the 
same  effect  as  on  the  former  occasion,  revealing  an 
almost  incredible  state  of  corruption  and  laxity  of 
morals  on  the  part  of  the  king’s  officers  and  of  the 
monks.*  The  jurors  promptly  convicted  the 
pedlar  above-mentioned,  Richard  de  Podelicote  by 
name,  a desperate  character,  in  whose  possession  a 
large  part  of  the  stolen  treasure  had  been  found. 
They  also  grievously  suspected  the  monks  of 
Westminster  and  the  officers  of  the  palace  of  being 
accessories  to  the  deed.  Moreover,  they  by  no 
means  neglected  this  favourable  opportunity  of 
getting  rid  of  a number  of  bad  characters  in  the 
neighbourhood  without  any  further  presumption 
of  guilt  than  that  such  persons  were  quite  capable 
of  any  crime. 

The  theory  of  the  robbery  of  the  treasury  as  it 
was  painfully,  not  to  say  enigmatically,  expounded 
by  these  honest  lieges  is  briefly  this  : 

The  monks  of  Westminster,  and  more  par- 
ticularly certain  domestic  officers  of  the  abbey,  had 
for  long  past  designed  this  robbery,  as  was  proved 
by  the  attempt  previously  hushed  up,  and  the 
theft  of  a large  sum  deposited  in  their  hands  in 
connection  with  the  obsequies  of  the  late  queen. 

* The  best  account  of  these  proceedings  is  given  in  his 
admirable  4 History  of  Crime/  by  Mr.  L.  O.  Pike,  the  present 
learned  editor  of  the  ‘Year  Books/  or  Law  Reports  of  this 
period. 


Ancient  treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  23 


Having  tampered  with  William  of  the  palace,  the 
keeper,  and  his  fellow  officers,  a deep-laid  plot 
was  successfully  carried  out  for  preventing  inter- 
ruption or  subsequent  discovery.  The  gates  of 
the  palace  and  Abbey  precincts  were  closed 
before  the  usual  hours,  and  public  traffic  was 
stopped  on  frivolous  pretences.  A daring  ruffian 
(Podelicote)  had  been  secured,  and  provided  with 
tools  by  a friendly  mason.  They  had  even  taken 
the  precaution  to  sow  the  ground  near  the  point  of 
attack  with  hemp,  to  conceal  the  traces  of  their 
operations,  and  secure  the  plunder  until  such  time 
as  it  could  be  safely  removed.  Many  of  the 
neighbouring  residents  could  bear  witness  to  the 
strange  proceedings  within  the  palace  walls.  The 
keeper,  deserting  his  wife  and  home  at  the  Fleet, 
revelled  late  at  night  in  the  palace  grounds  in  the 
doubtful  companionship  of  the  daughter  of  Nicholas 
the  cook,  while  not  a few  of  the  good  fathers  were 
reported  to  have  kept  him  company,  and  ladies 
were  certainly  of  the  party.  At  the  end  there 
was  a general  scramble  to  conceal  the  booty. 
Monks  were  seen  dropping  down  their  abbey 
mill-stream  with  a boatload  of  mysterious  hampers. 
Hosts  and  courtesans  and  usurers  were  freely  plied 
with  cups  and  platters  of  silver.  An  immense 
quantity  of  treasure  was  buried  in  the  cemetery 
or  concealed  in  the  convenient  hemp-bed.  Some 
pieces  were  even  found  lying  beneath  the  palace 


24  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


walls,  and  a small  quantity  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  deserving  poor  of  St.  Margaret’s.  Even  the 
cross  of  Gneith  (a  relic  which  the  king  regarded 
with  superstitious  reverence,  and  which  had  a 
keeper  assigned  to  it  from  the  royal  household) 
was  not  spared.  The  subjects  whose  money  had 
for  the  last  ten  years  been  squeezed  from  them  by 
the  royal  exactions  now  got  it  back  with  in- 
terest. The  beginning  of  the  end  seems  to  have 
been  the  discovery  made  by  a worthy  chaplain  of 
derelict  plate  in  the  very  yard  of  the  palace.  Then 
the  final  scramble  took  place,  and  William  of  the 
palace  had  barely  time  to  conceal  his  share  of  the 
plunder  under  his  bed  before  he  was  arrested  with 
the  other  suspects. 

The  several  juries  are  so  unanimous  in  the 
above  version  of  the  affair  that  it  is  scarcely 
possible  to  doubt  their  verdicts,  especially  in  view 
of  the  declared  ill-fame  of  certain  of  the  monks, 
and  the  lamentable  dissensions  and  recriminations 
that  prevailed  in  the  monastery  a year  or  two  later. 

Another  version,  however,  exists,  which  is 
nothing  less  than  the  confession  of  Podelicote 
himself.  His  narrative,  which  is  singularly  ex- 
plicit, completely  exonerates  the  officials,  equally 
with  the  monks,  from  any  active  participation  in 
the  robbery.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  case 
against  the  supposed  accessories  really  amounts 
only  to  a charge  of  unlawful  possession,  and  as 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  25 

the  annals  of  crime  present  us  with  numerous 
instances  of  successful  enterprises  of  this  kind 
having  been  effected  single-handed  by  very  daring 
and  skilful  felons,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  us 
from  giving  a certain  credit  to  his  statement,  pre- 
mising, however,  that  facilities  were  afforded  by 
the  cynical  indifference  of  the  officials,  who,  in  the 
spirit  of  the  wreckers  and  treasure-seekers  of  a far 
later  age,  thought  it  no  sin  to  profit  by  the  mis- 
adventures of  others,  especially  when  the  crown 
was  the  sufferer. 

THE  CONFESSION  OF  RICHARD  DE  PODELICOTE.# 

‘ He  says  that  he  was  a travelling  merchant  of 
wools,  cheese,  and  butter,  and  was  arrested  in 
Flanders  for  the  king’s  debts  in  Brussels,  and 
there  was  taken  from  him  xivl-  xviis.  in  pollards 
for  wools  taken  for  the  king’s  use,  for  the  which 
he  sues  in  the  court  of  the  King  of  England,  at  the 
beginning  of  August,  in  the  thirty-first  year  [of 
Edw.  I.],  at  Westminster ; and  at  that  time  he  espied 
the  state  of  their  refectory  of  the  abbey,  and  saw 
betimes  how  the  serjeants  there  carried  in  and  out 
hampers  of  silver,  and  dishes,  and  mazers.  So 
thought  he  then  how  he  might  come  at  the  goods 
that  he  saw,  for  that  he  was  poor  through  the  loss 
he  had  in  Flanders.  So  he  spied  about  the  pre- 
mises of  the  abbey  everywhere.  And  on  the  same 

* The  narrative  is  translated  here  from  the  Norman- 
French  of  the  original  record. 


26  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


day  that  the  king  departed  thence  where  he  tarried 
towards  Barnes,  the  night  following  the  said 
Richard — according  to  what  he  had  espied — found 
a ladder  standing  against  a house,  which  was  being 
roofed,  close  to  the  palace-gate,  over  against  the 
abbey,  and  put  this  ladder  against  a window  of 
the  chapter-house  that  opened  and  shut  by  a cord, 
and  entered,  swinging  himself  down  by  the  same 
cord,  and  from  thence  went  to  the  door  of  the 
refectory  and  found  it  close-locked,  and  with  his 
knife  opened  it,  and  entered  within,  and  found  six 
hampers  of  silver  in  an  aumbry  behind  the  doors, 
and  dishes  of  silver  (thirty  or  more)  in  another 
aumbry,  and  the  hampers  containing  drinking- 
cups  beneath  a bench,  all  packed  together,  and 
carried  them  all  off,  and  closed  the  doors  after 
him  without  locking  them.  Then  of  the  feet  of 
the  cups,  and  the  dishes,  and  hampers  of  silver 
he  made  his  sale,  and  spent  that,  even  before 
Christmas  next  following,  and  then  his  money 
failed,  so  thought  he  how  he  might  come  to  break 
into  the  king’s  treasury.  And  for  that  he  knew 
the  premises  of  the  abbey,  and  where  the  treasury 
was,  and  how  he  might  come  at  it  ; so  he  began 
eight  days  before  Christmas  to  enter  to  make  a 
breach  therewith  implements  which  he  had  provided 
for  that  purpose  ; that  is  to  say,  two  tarriers  (one 
large,  the  other  small),  and  knives,  and  many  other 
engines  of  iron.  And  thenceforth  he  was  engaged 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  27 

in  breaking  in  under  cover  of  night,  whenever  he 
could  discern  and  see  his  point,  from  eight  days 
before  Christmas  to  the  Quinzime  of  Easter 
following.  That  then  for  the  first  time  he  entered 
on  a Wednesday  night,  the  Eve  of  St.  Mark,  and 
the  whole  of  St.  Mark’s  Day  he  remained  inside, 
and  arranged  that  which  he  wished  to  carry  away. 
And  that  which  he  carried  away  he  carried  the 
night  following  outside,  and  of  this  he  left  part  out- 
side the  breach  till  the  next  night  following,  and  the 
remainder  he  carried  with  him  as  far  as  without 
the  gate  behind  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret,  and 
placed  it  beneath  the  wall  without  the  gate,  covered 
with  a heap  of  earth — about  twelve  pitchers,  and  in 
every  pitcher  he  put  some  jewels,  and  cups  standing 
and  covered.  Besides  this,  he  put  a great  pitcher 
with  precious  stones  and  a cup  in  a wooden  shrine. 
Besides  this,  he  put  three  pouches  full  of  jewels 
and  vessels,  whereof  one  was  filled  with  cups,  as 
well  whole  as  broken.  In  the  other  was  a great 
crucifix  and  jewels,  a case  of  silver,  with  gold 
dishes.  In  the  third,  cups,  plates,  and  nine  saucers, 
and  an  image  of  Our  Lady  of  silver-gilt,  and  two 
little  pitchers  of  silver.  Besides  this,  he  carried 
to  a ditch  outside  the  mews  a pot  and  a cup  of 
silver.  Besides  this,  he  carried  away  with  him 
dishes,  saucers,  plates  of  silver  for  spices,  a crown 
cut  up,  rings,  clasps,  precious  stones,  crowns,  belts, 
and  other  jewels,  which  afterwards  were  found  in 


28  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


his  possession  for  the  most  part.  And  this  same 
Richard  says  that,  when  he  took  these  out  of  the 
treasury,  he  carried  them  straightway  without  the 
gate,  close  to  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret,  in  the 
cemetery  of  the  Church  of  St.  Margaret,  without 
leaving  anything  behind  him  within  that  gate.' 

There  are  probably  few  subjects  of  archasological 
interest  upon  which  such  absolute  misconception 
has  hitherto  prevailed  as  in  respect  of  the  identity 
of  the  treasury  mentioned  in  this  robbery.  In  the 
first  place,  older  writers,  from  the  sixteenth  century 
onwards,  were  under  the  belief  that  the  robbery 
was  committed  in  the  treasury  of  the  Receipt, 
situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  palace,  and  that  the 
rebuilding  of  the  Exchequer  houses  in  this  reign  was 
due  to  that  outrage.  Modern  writers,  on  the  other 
hand,  have  ignored  the  existence  of  the  Exchequer 
treasury  entirely,  supposing  that  the  abbey  re- 
pository was  alone  used  for  the  custody  of  treasure. 
Thus,  Mr.  Elarrod*  missed  the  point  of  his 
strongest  argument  by  insisting  that  the  Exchequer 
treasury  could  not  have  been  exposed  to  attack 
during  four  months,  since  the  officials  must  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  it  almost  daily.  As 
a matter  of  fact,  the  king’s  great  treasury  in  the 
cloisters  (now  the  Chapel  of  the  Pyx)  was  not  the 
working  treasury  of  the  Exchequer,  which  was 


* Archceologia , vol.  xliv.,  part  2. 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  29 

situated  in  the  Exchequer  buildings  beyond  the 
palace  ; and,  in  any  case,  it  is  well  known  that  the 
Exchequer  was  at  York  during  the  whole  of  the 
period.  Neither  is  it  sufficient  to  assume,  as  Mr. 
Harrod  has  done,  that  the  treasury  of  the  Ward- 
robe was  normally  situated  beneath  the  chapter- 
house.  It  was  there  undoubtedly  in  the  nineteenth 
year  and  later,  but  the  older  and  more  important 
treasury  of  the  Wardrobe  was  still  existing  in  the 
Tower,  while  there  was  certainly  another  in  the 
palace  itself.  The  greater  part  of  the  crown  jewels 
can  be  traced,  in  course  of  frequent  transfers  from 
one  treasury  to  another,  between  the  king’s  de- 
parture for  Scotland  and  the  commission  of  the 
robbery.  The  real  proof  of  the  identity  of  the 
treasury  of  the  Wardrobe  with  the  treasury  robbed 
in  1303  is  found  in  another  document,  the  narra- 
tive of  the  first  discovery  of  the  crime  by  the 
keeper  of  the  Wardrobe  himself.  This  worthy 
had  been  absent  since  August  in  the  king’s  busi- 
ness— that  is  to  say,  he  was  apparently  employed 
in  negotiating  loans  with  foreign  merchants  or 
religious  houses  on  the  security  of  the  crown 
jewels  and  plate  in  his  custody.  On  June  20, 
1303,  he  arrived  in  London  on  important  business, 
which  seems  to  have  had  reference  to  an  intended 
pawn  of  plate  with  the  Friars  Minors.  The 
robbery  had  just  then  been  discovered,  and  was 
reported  to  him,  whereupon,  after  submitting  his 


30  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


keys  of  office  in  their  sealed  pouch  to  the  scrutiny 
of  the  king’s  justices,  he  proceeded  in  company 
with  the  latter,  the  lord  mayor,  the  warden  of  the 
Tower,  the  prior  of  Westminster,  and  several 
monks,  and  the  cofferer  of  the  queen’s  Wardrobe, 
to  the  scene  of  the  crime.  The  doors  of  the 
treasury  were  opened,  and  the  damage  was  at  once 
revealed.  Now,  this  narrative  affords  positive 
proof  that  the  treasury  in  question  was  not  the 
Exchequer  treasury,  the  keys  of  which  were  in  the 
custody  of  the  treasurer  and  chamberlains.  More- 
over, the  description  of  the  contents  of  this 
treasury  points  to  the  Wardrobe,  and  not  to  the 
Exchequer,  as  the  department  in  charge. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  the  positive  state- 
ment in  the  official  inquiry  that  this  very  treasury 
(Mr.  Harrod  has  not  observed  the  identity)  was 
broken  into  on  a former  occasion  from  the  cloister 
side,  and  this  would  seem  to  indicate  the  Chapel 
of  the  Pyx,  which  might  easily  have  been  attacked 
from  the  close  without  disagreement  with  the 
several  surroundings  mentioned  in  the  record  of 
inquiry,  such  as  the  cemetery  of  the  monks,  the 
hemp-sown  grass-plot,  the  monk’s  lodging  over 
against  the  breach,  the  passage  of  the  bell-ringers, 
etc.  However,  it  is  possible  to  explain  this 
apparently  conflicting  statement  by  the  supposition 
that  the  vault  of  the  chapter-house  was  attacked  at 
the  threshold  of  the  door  leading  to  the  cloisters. 


Fig.  i. — Sketch  plan  of  the  Palace  and  Abbey  precincts, 
Westminster. 


Ancient  "Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  En gland.  33 


One  peculiar  circumstance  has  hitherto  escaped 
notice,  namely,  the  close  connection  between  this 
outrage  and  the  rather  discreditable  methods 
adopted  by  the  king  for  raising  money.  It  will 
be  observed  that  Podelicote  himself  was  a victim, 
and  it  is  just  possible  that  the  wrongs  of  other 
merchants  and  mortgagees  may  have  had  more  to 
do  with  this'  unexampled  contempt  of  majesty 
than  we  are  yet  aware  of. 

The  result  of  the  inquiry  held  by  the  king’s 
officers  (Podelicote’s  confession  being  apparently 
ignored)  sealed  the  fate  of  the  principal  suspects, 
several  of  whom  were  hanged,  while  others 
remained  in  prison  for  several  years,  and  among 
these  the  monks  of  Westminster,  whose  treatment 
was  loudly  denounced  by  contemporary  historians 
of  their  own  order. 

It  would  seem  that  after  this  deplorable  incident 
the  royal  treasury  in  the  cloisters  of  the  abbey  was 
henceforth  used  as  the  principal  depository  of  the 
plate  and  regalia,  which,  however,  were  sometimes 
lodged  in  the  Tower,  and  to  a less  extent  in  the 
Wardrobe,  while  not  long  afterwards  a new 
department  was  erected  for  their  better  custody, 
the  Jewel-house,  which  still  had  one  of  its  centres 
within  the  abbey  precincts,  in  a tower  situated 
at  the  south-western  angle  of  the  palace,  and 
which  was  acquired  by  the  crown  from  the 
abbot  and  convent  for  this  purpose. 


3 


34  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

From  this  time  onward  it  is  possible  to  dis- 
tinguish four  separate  treasuries  at  Westminster, 
all  of  which  were  appropriated  for  the  custody  of 
coined  money  and  records.  The  chief  of  these 
was  still  the  great  treasury  within  the  cloisters  of 
Westminster  Abbey.  Here  the  king's  crowns, 
four  in  number,  and  the  other  regalia,  were  usually 
deposited,  together  with  many  valuable  jewels 
and  records,  certainly  as  late  as  the  reign  of 
Henry  VI.  Before  the  close  of  Elizabeth’s  reign 
the  jewel-house  in  the  Tower  had  become  the 
official  repository  of  the  regalia  and  the  historic 
jewels  of  the  crown,  being  also  at  this  time  in 
the  custody  of  the  master  of  the  jewel-house  and 
his  subordinates,  instead  of  in  that  of  the  treasurer 
and  chamberlains  of  the  Exchequer. 

The  second  treasury  was  one  perhaps  equally 
ancient,  but  probably  less  suited  for  the  safe 
custody  of  a mass  of  uncoined  treasure.  This 
was  the  treasury  of  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer, 
and  was  situated  apparently  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  Exchequer-house,  on  the  east  side  of  the  new 
palace.  In  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  however,  after 
many  additions  had  been  made  to  the  original 
structure,  we  learn  that  a considerable  amount  of 
treasure  was  allowed  to  lie  in  chests  in  the  upper 
part  of  a building  which  was  now  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  business  of  the  receipt  and  issue  of 
the  revenue. 


Ancient  ^Treasury  of  the  Kings  of  England.  35 

The  third  treasury,  which  was  of  more  modern 
date,  was  situated  over  the  little  gatehouse  of 
the  new  palace.  The  fourth  treasury  was  in  the 
refectory  of  the  abbey,  and  was  probably  the 
private  treasury  of  the  abbot  and  convent,  and 
identical  with  the  strong-room  broken  into  by 
Podelicote  in  August  of  1302. 

From  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  tour 
treasuries  at  Westminster  were  chiefly  used  as 
repositories  of  records.  In  fact,  the  great  treasury 
in  the  cloisters  was  frequently  termed  the  treasury 
of  leagues,  because  the  ancient  diplomatic  records 
of  the  kingdom  were  preserved  there.  Moreover, 
all  these  treasuries  were  fitted  with  presses  for  the 
records,  and  the  old  money-chests  were  utilized 
for  the  same  purpose,  but  the  contents  of  the 
treasury  of  the  Receipt  seem  to  have  remained  the 
same  as  they  were  in  the  time  of  Richard  Fitz- 
Nigel,  and  here  the  keys  of  the  treasury  in  the 
abbey  were  always  deposited.  The  latter  cham- 
ber is  well  known  to  visitors  of  the  abbey  as  a 
vaulted  room  or  chapel  beneath  the  old  dormitory 
of  the  monks,  in  the  cloister  next  the  chapter- 
house. 

The  ancient  treasury  within  the  Tower  of 
London  may  fairly  be  reckoned  as  a fifth  reposi- 
tory of  plate,  jewels,  and  records.  There  was  also 
an  inner  chamber  here,  4 next  the  Black  Hall,’  and 
4 under  the  Great  Hall,’  which  was  used  for  the 

3—2 


36  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

same  purpose  from  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  or 
even  earlier. 

It  is  probable  that  a considerable  amount  of 
bullion  was  periodically  stored  in  the  mint,  both  in 
the  central  mint,  in  the  Tower  of  London,  which 
was  erected  as  a distinct  department  from  the 
treasury,  in  the  third  year  of  Elizabeth,  and  in 
several  provincial  cities.  Still  larger  sums  must 
have  been  received  in  another  fiscal  department, 
the  Wardrobe,  during  the  period  of  its  greatest 
activity,  between  the  reigns  of  Henry  III.  and 
Henry  VII. 

The  history  of  the  mint  is  a subject  of  inde- 
pendent interest  and  almost  equal  magnitude  with 
that  of  the  Exchequer  itself,  while  the  ministry  of 
the  Wardrobe  is  for  the  most  part  connected  with 
constitutional  history.  It  may  be  noticed,  in 
conclusion,  that  although  the  royal  treasury  con- 
tinued to  be  fixed  at  the  five  centres  previously 
mentioned  down  to  the  present  reign,  a complete 
revolution  was  effected  in  the  procedure  of  this 
branch  of  the  Exchequer  by  the  rise  of  the  modern 
Treasury  Board  in  the  seventeenth  century.  The 
Treasury,  from  the  Restoration  at  least,  became  in 
common  parlance  the  state  department  situate, 
then  as  now,  in  Whitehall.  Finally,  with  the 
foundation  of  the  Bank  of  England,  and  the  use 
of  Exchequer  bills,  the  last  days  of  the  ancient 
treasury  were  at  hand.  Its  sole  remaining 


Ancient  Treasury  of  the  Kings  o f England,  37 


functions,  the  custody  of  the  regalia  and  records, 
have  at  length  been  assigned  to  other  departments. 
The  Tower  alone,  though  shorn  of  its  ‘ lions  ’ 
and  its  mint,  retains  many  vestiges  of  its  fiscal 
guardianship,  with  a respectable  antiquity  of  some- 
thing more  than  six  hundred  years. 


CHAPTER  II. 


TREASURE  AND  RECORDS. 

HE  oft-quoted  ‘ hoard  ’ of  the  West  Saxon 


kings  may  be  supposed  to  have  contained  a 
very  miscellaneous  assortment  of  treasure.  Only  a 
century  later  this  was  held  to  include  not  only  coined 
money  or  bullion,  but  also  rich  vestments,  jewels 
and  plate  of  every  description,  and  even  books  or 
records.  These,  in  fact,  continued  to  form  the 
normal  contents  of  the  treasury  down  to  our  own 
day,  but  many  other  articles  of  quasi-intrinsic 
value  or  imperial  interest  may  be  conjectured,  and 
are  sometimes  enumerated,  including  relics  and 
money-dies,  regalia  and  rusty  armour. 

The  money-treasure  itself  was  the  chief  object 
of  attention  at  the  hands  of  the  officials  of  the 
Receipt  of  the  Exchequer,  in  the  treasury  of  which 
department  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  in- 
coming revenue  was  hoarded.  In  Saxon,  Norman, 
and  early  Plantagenet  times,  we  are  told,  ‘ money  ’ 
and  ‘ penny  ’ were  interchangeable  words,  and  as 


Treasure  and  Records. 


39 


the  only  legal  tender  at  the  Exchequer  was  by 
weight,  a pound  of  silver  pennies  was  as  readily 
accounted  for  as  any  other  denomination.  At 
first,  indeed,  it  seems  to  have  been  the  custom  to 
receive  several  branches  of  the  revenue  ‘ by  tale, 
namely,  by  telling  over  the  incoming  treasure  at 
the  rate  of  240  pence  to  the  pound.  The  revenue 
in  question  having  been  only  recently  realized  by 
the  commutation  of  a fixed  tribute  of  oxen,  sheep, 
and  grain  for  bullion,  the  quality  of  the  latter  was 
not  at  first  examined  too  closely,  but  the  condition 
was  soon  imposed  that  all  payments  should  be 
tested  by  the  Exchequer  scale,  sixpence  on  every 
pound  being  exacted  to  ‘ trim  the  balance.’  This 
calculation  was,  however,  found  to  be  unduly 
favourable  to  the  accountants  in  an  age  when 
clipping  and  sweating  were  reduced  to  fine  arts. 
Moreover,  the  lowness  of  the  assessments,  and  the 
enormous  profits  gained  by  enterprising  sheriffs, 
made  it  only  reasonable  that  the  stipulated  sums 
should  form  a nett  revenue,  apart  from  the  com- 
mercial importance  of  maintaining  a pure  currency. 
Therefore,  it  was  next  decreed  that  all  the  king’s 
farms  should  be  accounted  for  by  the  actual  weight 
of  the  sum  required,  a deduction  of  one  shilling  in 
the  pound  being  allowed  in  most  cases  as  an 
equivalent. 

This  official  sharp  practice  was  met  by  the  ten- 
der of  debased  coinage,  so  that  another  sweeping 


40  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


regulation  was  enforced  in  the  case  of  the  chief  item 
of  the  revenue,  the  royal  farms.  By  virtue  of  this 
innovation,  which  is  ascribed  to  Roger,  Bishop 
of  Salisbury,  himself,  the  farms  rendered  by  the 
sheriffs  were,  with  few  exceptions,  subjected  to  an 
assay,  the  treble  deficit  in  number,  weight,  and 
purity  of  the  coinage  being  borne  by  the  accoun- 
tant. Besides  these  silver  pennies,  all  kinds  of 
obsolete  or  outlandish  coins  were  occasionally 
received  at  the  Exchequer  from  distant  and  un- 
civilized countries,  from  foreign  merchants  or 
Jewish  usurers,  and  even  in  the  shape  of  treasure- 
trove.  These  were  either  used  as  4 counters/  or 
converted  with  other  condemned  pieces  into  plate 
for  the  service  of  the  king’s  hall  or  chapel. 
Spurious  coins  were  carefully  preserved  for  the 
sake  of  example,  or  as  curiosities,  and  some  of 
these  exist  in  the  present  day.  It  is  scarcely 
necessary  to  observe  that  the  denominations  mark 
and  half-mark,  so  often  met  with  in  old  accounts, 
had  no  real  existence  either  in  gold  or  silver 
currency. 

For  a considerable  period  after  the  institution 
of  a specific  currency,  payments  in  kind  were  still 
accepted  at  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer,  usually 
in  cases  of  fines  or  oblations  offered  to  obtain 
the  king’s  favour  or  pardon,  or  from  tenants  by 
serjeant y.  Thus  palfreys  and  hawks  were  con- 

stantly accounted  for  and  consigned  to  the  king’s 


Treasure  and  Records , 


4* 


stables  and  mews  respectively.  We  have  rare 
notices  of  perfumes,  jewels,  plate,  and  furs  or 
vestments  being  received  in  the  same  way,  though 
often  directly  by  the  Chamber  or  Wardrobe 
treasuries. 

The  coined  treasure,  when  paid  in  at  the  Receipt, 
was  counted,  weighed  or  assayed,  as  the  case  might 
be,  and  arranged  in  convenient  rouleaux , by  means 
of  turned  boxes  or  canisters  of  several  sizes,  for 
five  pounds  or  one  hundred  pounds.  These  were 
then  deposited  in  sacks  or  chests,  securely  fastened 
and  sealed.  The  coins  selected  for  the  assay,  to 
the  value  of  forty-four  shillings,  were  placed  in  a 
particular  box,  which  has  given  its  name  to  the 
trial  of  the  Pyx. 

In  addition  to  money  and  the  apparatus  con- 
nected with  its  due  receipt  and  custody,  the  most 
valuable  portion  of  the  occasional  contents  of  the 
treasury  remains  to  be  noticed,  namely,  the  regalia, 
crown  jewels,  and  plate.  These  seem  to  have 
been  especially  costly  in  early  times,  both  on 
account  of  the  natural  propensity  of  a rude  age  to 
indulge  in  displays  of  barbaric  riches,  and  also  in 
conformity  with  the  economic  theory  of  the  period, 
whereby  wealth  was  regarded  only  as  a tangible 
possession.  It  is  probable,  in  fact,  that  a surplus 
revenue  was  systematically  converted  into  plate  or 
jewels,  in  which  form  it  was  realized  with  equal 
facility,  and  with  a possible  appreciation  in  value 


4 2 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

due  to  religious  or  personal  associations  and  excel- 
lence of  workmanship.  Throughout  the  Middle 
Ages,  and,  indeed,  on  certain  occasions  in  far  later 
times,  the  regalia  were  systematically  pawned,  at 
one  time  with  foreign  usurers,  and  at  another 
with  the  corporation  of  London,  or  a more  than 
half-unwilling  baron.  In  the  year  1385,  with  ill- 
success  abroad  and  disaffection  at  home,  and  the 
spending  power  of  the  crown  threatened  by  appro- 
priation of  supply,  we  find  in  a contemporary 
record  that  Richard  II.  came  suddenly  to  London 
from  Eltham,  dined  at  his  Palace  of  Westminster, 
and  thence  proceeded  to  the  royal  treasury  to  view 
the  jewels  there.  Not  long  afterwards  the  king’s 
great  crown  was  pawned  to  the  City  of  London 
for  ^4,000.  In  fact,  the  redemption  of  the 
regalia,  or,  at  least,  their  necessary  repair  and 
purification,  formed  an  incidental  expense  of  the 
coronations  of  most  English  kings. 

The  regalia  are  frequently  described  in  ancient 
inventories  of  the  treasury,  and  among  other  items 
are  mentioned  the  four  crowns — the  great  crown 
of  King  Edward,  the  second  and  third  crowns 
and  the  chaplet — the  ampulla,  several  sceptres — 
whereof  two  were  called  the  rod  of  Moses  and 
the  rod  of  Aaron  respectively — spurs,  bracelets, 
and  robes  of  red  velvet.  At  the  coronation  of 
Richard  I.  the  regalia  were  borne  in  the  procession 
on  a chequered  table.  As  early  as  the  reign  of 


Treasure  and  Records , 


43 


Henry  II.  we  find  notices  of  the  swords  of  state, 
three  in  number,  which  form  as  it  were  the  link 
between  the  regalia  proper  and  the  relics  deposited 
in  the  treasury.  These  swords  were  in  all  prob- 
ability the  legendary  weapons,  known  as  the 
sword  of  Athelstan,  which  cleft  the  rock  of 
Dunbar,  the  brand  of  Welland  the  smith,  cele- 
brated in  Scandinavian  sagas,  and  the  sword  of 
Tristan,  which  may  also  be  identical  with  the 
‘ pointless  curtana.’  Besides  these  there  was  the 
inlaid  sword  of  Edward  the  Black  Prince,  the 
poisoned  dagger  with  which  Edward  I.  was  stricken 
at  Acre,  and  the  gauntlet  worn  by  John,  King  of 
France,  at  the  battle  of  Poitiers,  with  other  ancient 
armour  of  historic  interest. 

Amongst  the  relics  proper  may  be  noticed  the 
cross  cf  Gneith  (St.  Neot’s)  and  the  black  rood  of 
Scotland.  The  former  of  these,  as  already  men- 
tioned, was  highly  prized  by  Edward  I.  A special 
keeper  was  assigned  to  it  when  it  followed  the 
king  in  his  Scotch  wars,  it  being  used,  like  the 
black  rood,  for  the  purpose  of  administering  the 
oath  of  fealty  to  the  Scottish  barons.  It  was  kept 
in  a separate  case,  which  was  broken  open  by  the 
robbers  of  the  treasury  in  1303.  Perhaps  this 
was  the  great  jewelled  crucifix  described  by 
Podelicote  in  his  confession  as  being  among  the 
contents  of  the  three  great  pouches  buried  by  him 
near  St.  Margaret’s  Church.  It  may  have  been 


44  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


mutilated  at  this  time,  for  we  read  some  years 
after  of  a new  foot  being  made  for  it  by  the  king’s 
goldsmith  in  the  Tower.  There  was  another  cross 
preserved  in  the  treasury  which  had  once  belonged 
to  St.  Louis  of  France,  and  to  the  same  period 
belonged  the  c golden  rose  ’ bestowed  upon  Ed- 
ward I.  by  the  pope.  It  is  well  known  that 
a similar  honour  was  conferred  upon  Henry  VIII., 
together  with  the  present  of  a two-handed  sword 
inlaid  with  gold.  A less  orthodox  relic  was  the 
magic  sapphire  ring  supposed  to  render  the  wearer 
invincible  in  battle.  Many  other  relics  might  be 
enumerated  before  the  Reformation,  and  even  in 
the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  seven  valuable  crucifixes 
were  still  in  existence.  Tabernacles  were  also 
much  in  fashion,  and  from,  the  fifteenth  century 
onwards  ‘images’  of  St.  George  abounded.  Among 
the  more  national  trophies  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
Middle  Ages  may  be  mentioned  the  gold  sword  of 
Spain  and  the  tablet  of  Spain,  which  may  have 
been  obtained  through  the  Black  Prince  or  his 
younger  brother,  John  of  Gaunt.  Other  historic 
jewels  are  spoken  of,  as  the  tablet  of  Burgoigne,  the 
tablet  of  Bourbon,  the  tablet  of  England  and 
France,  and  the  tablet  of  Lancaster.  All  these 
were  of  gold,  richly  ornamented  with  precious 
stones. 

Although  the  greater  part  of  the  five  coffers, 
filled  with  relics,  which  existed  in  the  abbey  in 


Treasure  and  Records . 


45 


Saxon  times,  has  been  lost  or  dispersed,  several  of 
the  articles  enumerated  above  may  be  referred  to 
this  period.  For  instance,  the  pieces  of  the  true 
cross  and  the  tunic  without  seam  appear  as  late  as 
Henry  VI.’s  reign,  being  first  mentioned  in  the 
enrolment  of  the  Confessor’s  charter  of  founda- 
tion. 

A very  fair  idea  of  the  contents  of  the  mediaeval 
treasury  may  be  found  in  Podelicote’s  confession, 
printed  in  the  preceding  chapter.  At  the  close  of 
the  Tudor  period  we  are  struck  with  the  pre- 
ponderance of  precious  stones,  elaborately  cut  and 
set,  over  the  cumbrous  metal-work  of  an  earlier 
age.  Elizabeth  in  particular  was  a great  collector 
of  precious  gems,  profiting  by  her  interest  in  the 
adventures  of  the  English  privateers.  Perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  of  the  many  fine  jewels  pre- 
served in  the  Tower  in  the  reign  of  her  successor 
was  the  ‘ Mirror  of  Great  Britain,’  a gold  jewel 
set  with  a very  large  diamond,  a ruby  to  match, 
and  two  other  diamonds,  one  being  known  as  the 
stone  of  Scotland.  From  this  time  onwards  great 
demands  were  made  upon  the  jewel-house  in  con- 
nection with  the  diplomatic  service  and  the  private 
munificence  of  the  sovereign.  The  auditors’  privy 
seals  and  jewel  office  warrants  of  the  seventeenth 
century  furnish  information  parallel  with  the 
ancient  inventories  of  the  Plantagenet  kings,  but 
rather  in  the  direction  of  spending  than  of  hoard- 


46  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


ing.  Later  still  the  patronage  of  the  turf  made  a 
fresh  outlet  for  the  stock  of  royal  plate,  but  even 
by  the  commencement  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
these  portions  of  the  king’s  treasure  had  ceased  to 
be  included  amongst  the  contents  of  the  treasury 
of  the  Receipt. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  royal  seal  appears 
to  have  been  preserved  with  the  greatest  care  in 
the  treasury,  where  it  is  described  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  as  the  inseparable  companion  of  Domes- 
day Book.  In  the  reign  of  Edward  III.  several 
distinct  seals  are  enumerated,  and  these  were  then 
preserved  with  the  regalia.  Besides  the  Great 
Seal  of  England,  used  in  the  chancery,  there  was  a 
great  seal  of  the  English  possessions  in  France,  the 
seal  of  the  principality  of  Wales,  that  of  the 
chancery  of  Ireland,  and,  during  the  vacancy  of  the 
see,  of  the  bishopric  of  Durham.  There  was  also 
the  seal  of  Calais,  which  was  deposited  here  in  the 
twenty-ninth  year.  During  the  king’s  frequent 
absence  abroad,  his  son  Lionel,  as  ‘ guardian  of 
England,’  used  a privy  seal,  which  was  afterwards 
cancelled,  and  a new  one  struck  for  Thomas  of 
Woodstock.  The  two  seals  in  use  in  the  Courts 
of  King’s  Bench  and  Common  Pleas  for  the 
despatch  of  judicial  writs  were  deposited  in  the 
treasury,  and  the  great  seal  of  the  Receipt  of  the 
Exchequer,  mentioned  in  the  Dialogus , was  in 
existence  here  down  to  the  seventeenth  century. 


Treasure  and  Records . 


47 


All  the  above  seem  to  have  been  made  of  silver. 
There  were  many  private  seals,  from  that  of 
Lancaster  down  to  a simple  knight’s  ; also  the 
leaden  or  golden  seals  affixed  to  papal  bulls  or 
diplomatic  documents.  The  great  seal  was  not 
infrequently  counterfeited,  and  one  of  these  coun- 
terfeits was  formerly  preserved  in  the  treasury. 

RECORDS. 

It  has  frequently  been  remarked  that  from  the 
earliest  times  the  practice  obtained  of  deposit- 
ing the  national  records  for  safety  in  the  king’s 
treasury.  We  might  even  go  so  far  as  to  suggest 
that  the  official  preservation  of  the  records  takes 
precedence  in  certain  aspects  of  the  custody  of  the 
treasure.  Thus  the  house  of  the  rolls  in  Babylon 
contained  the  treasure  of  the  Assyrian  kings, 
and  the  temple-treasuries  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome  were  equally  dignified  as  receptacles  of 
records.  In  Western  Europe  the  same  practice 
prevailed  after  the  Christian  era,  the  king’s  chapel 
or  some  church  of  royal  foundation  being  the 
chosen  repository  of  the  regalia,  jewels  and  relics, 
which  are  rightly  described  in  the  most  ancient 
inventories  as  being  ‘ without  price.’  The  records 
which  bore  them  company  were  at  least  equally 
priceless  in  the  estimation  of  their  ancient  and 
modern  custodians  alike.  From  the  lowest  point 
of  view  these  evidences  of  the  king’s  title  to  lands, 


48  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


revenues  or  taxes,  records  such  as  Domesday 
Book,  the  Exactory  Roll,  and  the  Red  Book  of 
the  Exchequer,  were,  like  the  rod  of  Aaron,  and 
the  consecrated  oil  of  the  ampulla,  part  of  the 
stock-in-trade  of  royalty  during  the  Middle  Ages. 

It  is  obviously  fitting  that  the  custody  of  the 
records  should  have  been  confided  to  that  class 
which  alone  was  skilled  in  their  compilation  or 
use.  In  this  country,  however,  a dual  control 
existed  from  very  early  times,  in  the  best  interests 
of  the  royal  service — on  the  one  hand  the  house- 
hold thanes,  chamberlains,  marshal  and  constable, 
with  lay  underlings,  as  ushers  and  serjeants  ; and 
on  the  other  hand  the  household  clerks,  chancellor 
and  treasurer,  with  their  clerical  staff.  But  whether 
clerks  or  laymen  were  most  in  favour  at  court  at 
particular  times,  nothing  is  more  striking  than  the 
elaborate  precautions  taken  for  the  safety  and 
accessibility  of  the  records  by  successive  genera- 
tions of  officials. 

It  was  an  ancient  rule  of  the  treasury  of  the 
Exchequer,  that  no  treasure  or  records  could  be 
removed  without  the  authority  of  the  king's  writ. 
In  fact  the  receipt  or  issue  of  records  were  subject 
to  precisely  the  same  conditions  as  prevailed  in  the 
case  of  money,  regalia,  plate  and  jewels,  a note 
being  made  of  their  number  and  description,  from 
whom  they  were  received  or  to  whom  issued,  and 
the  exact  place  of  their  deposit  in  the  treasury,  with 


Treasure  and  Records , 


49 


the  respective  dates.  In  spite  of  this  excellent 
regulation,  it  was  found  necessary  before  long  to 
establish  further  precautions.  The  multiplication 
of  legal  departments  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I. 
was  followed  by  a corresponding  division  of  con- 
trol over  the  records  at  large.  The  barons  in 
their  new  court  had  still  constant  need  of  many 
different  records  for  inspection,  and  these  could  no 
longer  be  simply  brought  up  from  the  lower 
Exchequer  beneath  the  same  roof.  The  Wardrobe, 
which  had  usurped  many  of  the  functions  of  the 
treasury,  claimed  equal  access  to  the  rolls  of  account. 
The  Chancery  had  formerly  been  regarded  as  the 
clerical  department  of  the  Exchequer,  and  its 
authority  in  this  matter  could  scarcely  be  gainsaid, 
and  finally  privy  councillors  or  other  ministers  of 
the  crown  seem  to  have  been  constant  offenders 
‘ by  virtue  of  their  familiarity  with  the  king.’ 
Therefore  in  the  year  1327  a mandate  was  issued, 
at  the  instance  of  Bishop  Stapleton,  then  treasurer, 
in  accordance  with  which  the  entire  contents  of 
the  record  repository  were  arranged,  classified,  and 
numbered,  especial  pains  being  taken  to  affix  to 
each  record  a distinctive  label,  so  that  it  might  be 
produced  without  difficulty  and  replaced  in  its 
proper  position. 

The  records  deposited  in  the  royal  treasury  were 
preserved  in  similar  receptacles  to  the  bullion, 
namely,  in  large  chests  and  smaller  coffers,  boxes, 

4 


50  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


and  hampers.  These  chests  and  coffers  were  very 
massive,  being  bound  with  iron  and  secured  with 
three  separate  locks  and  keys,  according  to  the 
usual  practice  of  the  period.  One  of  these  chests 
still  survives,  being,  it  is  believed,  that  which  used 
to  contain  some  portion  of  the  regalia  together  with 
Domesday  Book  (see  Frontispiece).  This  chest  is 
3 feet  inches  in  length,  2 feet  3 inches  wide,  and 
2 feet  3 inches  deep.  The  woodwork  is  2 inches 
in  thickness,  sheeted  with  iron  within  and  without, 
and  strengthened  by  iron  bands  fastened  with  iron 
nails,  the  heads  of  which  are  each  more  than  an 
inch  in  breadth.  There  are  three  massive  locks, 
and  an  inner  compartment,  probably  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  crown  or  of  the  great  seal.  This 
chest,  which  must  weigh  at  least  5 cwt.,  was 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  receptacles  of  the  old 
treasury  in  the  abbey,  whence  it  was  removed  to 
the  Public  Record  Office  about  the  year  1857. 
The  locks  have  been  forced  open  at  some  remote 
period,  possibly  in  the  robbery  of  the  treasury 
under  Edward  I.  It  should  be  added  that  in  the 
earlier  period  these  chests  were  frequently  con- 
veyed, with  their  contents,  to  some  distant  city  or 
palace.  On  these  occasions  they  were  described 
as  the  arks  or  hutches  of  the  treasury,  the  latter 
term  being  possibly  derived  from  the  frequent 
practice  of  including  the  king’s  hawks  in  the 
treasure-train.  Coined  money  was  also  frequently 


Fig.  3. — A Skippet. 


1 Treasure  a?id  Records. 


53 


conveyed  in  wine-casks.  The  smaller  boxes  were 
of  wood,  often  turned  in  the  lathe.  There  were 
also  hampers  in  common  use,  beautifully  woven  of 
willow  twigs,  in  somewhat  round  or  beehive  shape, 
together  with  leather  or  canvas  bags,  some  of 
which  were  curiously  painted  in  oil  colours.  These 
bags  or  pouches,  with  the  turned  boxes,  or  ‘ skip- 
pets,’  were  placed  several  together  inside  a larger 
case,  or  £ pyx,’  or  in  a hamper,  which  in  turn  was 
deposited  in  one  of  the  chests  or  coffers.  The 
following  notice,  being  one  of  many  hundred 
similar  entries  in  the  memoranda  of  the  treasury, 
describes  the  nature  of  several  of  these  receptacles. 

‘ Be  it  remembered,  that  on  the  2 o*h  day  of 
May,  in  the  42^  year  of  King  Edward  the  third 
since  the  Conquest,  there  were  delivered  into  the 
King’s  Treasury,  to  be  preserved  [there],  one 
hamper  covered  with  black  leather,  and  bound 
with  iron,  and  sealed ; and  one  small  bag  of  canvas 
with  sealed  muniments  contained  within  the  same ; 
and  one  pyx  with  the  Treaty  of  Scotland,  made 
the  first  day  of  September,  in  the  41st  year,  con- 
tained within  the  same.  And  they  are  placed  in 
the  lesser  chest  with  three  locks  above  the  Receipt, 
with  this  device — S.’ 

In  course  of  time  the  number  of  these  record- 
chests  was  greatly  multiplied.  In  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.  they  contained  already,  besides  Domes- 
day Book  and  the  great  year-rolls  of  the  Exchequer, 


54  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


a vast  number  of  charters  and  other  title-deeds  ; 
and  these  were  being  constantly  added  to  by 
escheats  or  surrenders  in  favour  of  the  crown. 
More  space  was  fortunately  made  for  their  recep- 
tion by  the  removal  of  the  Exchequer  court  a 
century  later.  It  is  probable  that  the  place  of 
their  deposit,  so  frequently  mentioned  as  ‘ above 
the  Receipt,’  refers  to  the  chamber  formerly  used 
for  the  session  of  the  court,  and  that  the  tellers’ 
chamber,  in  which  records  were  occasionally 
stored,  was  the  inner  or  council  chamber,  on  the 
same  floor,  usually  known  from  the  sixteenth 
century  onwards  as  the  ‘ Tellers’  loft.’  The 
adjacent  chapel  of  St.  Stephen’s  was  also  utilized 
for  this  purpose,  but  in  the  course  of  the  next  two 
centuries  this  pressure  was  relieved  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  two  new  treasuries,  one  in  the  gate- 
tower  of  the  new  palace,  and  the  other  in  the 
chapter-house  of  the  abbey. 

It  will  be  gathered  from  the  above  entry  that  a 
private  mark  or  cipher  was  employed  to  designate 
the  nature  of  the  contents  of  the  various  chests. 
This,  indeed,  was  nothing  less  than  a rude  form  of 
symbolism,  often  extending  no  further  than  picture- 
writing. Thus,  the  letter  S,  in  the  passage  quoted 
above,  evidently  stands  for  ‘ Scotland.’  Initial 
letters  were  frequently  used  for  this  purpose,  often 
in  a hieroglyphic  form  as  monograms.  The  un- 
equalled collection  of  papal  bulls  in  the  treasury  of 


Treasure  and  Records. 


55 


the  Receipt  were  arranged  by  Bishop  Stapleton 
under  the  letters  of  the  alphabet.  In  many  cases 
the  names  or  subjects  were  written  in  full,  but  most 
frequently  of  all  a rude  but  characteristic  drawing 
was  made  upon  the  label,  doubtless  to  assist  the 
operations  of  unlettered  ushers  or  serjeants. 
Specimens  of  some  of  these  symbols  are  given 
below.  It  should  be  observed  that,  in  addition  to 
the  inscription  on  the  label,  its  exact  counterpart 
was  entered  in  the  margin  of  the  inventories  of 
the  treasury,  of  the  rolls  of  the  court,  and  of  every 
other  record  in  which  the  subject-matter  was  cited 
from  time  to  time.  Many  of  them  were  also  more 
elaborately  executed  in  the  several  entry  books  of 
the  Exchequer,  such  as  the  Liber  A and  Liber  B. 


Fig,  6. — A Cardinal. 


56  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Fig.  8. — The  Abbot  of  Peterborough. 


Fig.  9. — A Bishop. 


Fig.  10.- — A Charter  surren- 
dered to  the  Crown. 


Treasure  and  Records. 


Fig.  14. — John,  Earl  of  Holland, 
Richard  II.’s  half-brother,  and  a 
fashionable  Courtier. 


Fig.  15. — Alice  Perrers,  Edward  III.’s 
mistress. 


Fig.  17. — The  town  of  Yarmouth. 


Fig.  18.  — Wales  — a Welsh 
Mercenary. 


The  records  which  figured  most  conspicuously 
round  the  Exchequer  tables,  or  which  were  in  daily 
use  in  the  Barons’  chamber,  or  in  the  Receipt, 
comprise  several  of  the  most  ancient  and  valuable 
classes  extant.  Besides  Domesday  Book  itself  and 


Treasure  and  Records. 


59 


the  various  other  compilations  intended  to  discover 
the  liabilities  of  the  military  tenants  of  the  crown, 
such  as  the  Red  and  Black  Books  of  the  Exchequer, 
the  ‘Testa  de  Nevill,’  the  ‘Book  of  Aids,’  and 
similar  feodaries,  there  were  precise  statements  of  the 
royal  farms  payable  by  the  sheriffs  in  every  county, 
namely,  the  Exactory  Roll  (now  entirely  lost  to  us) 
and  the  assessments  drawn  up  in  the  fourteenth 
century  for  a like  purpose.  The  treasurer’s  great 
roll  (better  known  to  us  as  the  Pipe  Roll)  and  the 
chancellor’s  counterpart  formed  the  ledgers  of  the 
Exchequer,  wherein  the  results  of  the  audit  of  the 
sheriffs’  particular  accounts  were  tabulated.  Day- 
books of  receipts  and  expenditure  were  also  kept 
— the  Issue  and  Receipt  rolls  of  the  two  Remem- 
brancers— which  show  the  exact  amounts  paid  into 
the  Receipt  and  issued  thence  from  day  to  day. 
The  results  of  the  barons’  deliberations  in  their 
council-chamber  were  recorded  in  the  Memoranda 
rolls.  The  king’s  writs  received  at  the  Exchequer, 
or  made  out  there,  for  money  to  be  paid  over  and 
for  other  necessary  purposes,  form  a distinct  class 
of  records.  Just  as  nothing  of  importance  could  be 
transacted  without  this  authority,  so  nothing  could 
be  undone  without  a like  warrant  to  stay  the 
inexorable  processes  of  this  court.  It  was  only 
after  a wearisome  contest  that  the  king’s  writ  was 
allowed  to  be  presumed  in  favour  of  the  barons 
themselves  and  others,  like  the  knights  of  the 


6o  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Temple  and  of  St.  John,  who  were  notoriously 
exempt  from  general  taxation.  These  writs  were 
not  only  imperatively  required  for  every  fiscal 
transaction,  but  were  also  closely  examined  in  the 
course  of  the  half-yearly  audits,  and  therefore 
were  in  constant  evidence  at  every  stage  of  the 
proceedings.  A vast  number  of  miscellaneous 
instruments,  such  as  charters,  chirographs,  and 
particulars  of  accounts,  complete  the  list  of  official 
documents  most  frequently  in  use  for  the  ceremony 
of  passing  the  sheriffs’  accounts. 

In  addition  to  the  above  characteristic  records 
of  the  Exchequer,  the  repositories  within  the 
treasuries  at  Westminster  contained  many  others 
officially  consigned  to  the  treasurer  and  chamber- 
lains by  the  Common  Law  courts,  to  a certain 
extent  by  the  Chancery,  and  quite  systematically 
by  those  entrusted  with  the  management  of  the 
personal  expenditure  and  correspondence  of  the 
crown.  Of  the  former  class,  the  custom  of 
depositing  fines  for  conveyance  of  land  for  safe 
custody  in  the  king’s  treasury  is  believed  to  be 
more  ancient  than  the  Conquest,  and  for  several 
centuries  the  judges  were  in  the  habit  of  deliver- 
ing in  their  rolls  and  receiving  them  back  when- 
ever needed  for  temporary  reference.  Of  the  latter 
class,  the  diplomatic  correspondence,  including 
treaties  and  papal  bulls,  royal  wills  and  marriages, 
etc.,  was  in  all  times  very  highly  prized  and 


1 Treasure  and  Records. 


61 

jealously  guarded.  Many  of  the  most  ancient  of 
these  instruments,  some  enriched  with  golden  seals, 
have  disappeared  long  since,  but  others  still  sur- 
vive, such  as  the  4 three  golden  leagues  * of 
Alphonso  the  Wise,  Francis  I.,  and  Pope  Cle- 
ment VII.  These  diplomatic  instruments  may  be 
further  considered  as  the  nucleus  of  our  unequalled 
national  collection  of  state  papers,  but  besides  the 
records  of  the  Curia  itself,  those  of  many  other 
departments  were  deposited  here  in  the  ordinary 
course  or  from  special  considerations : the  accounts 
of  the  army  and  navy,  of  the  royal  household,  and 
of  the  customs,  etc.,  statutes  of  Parliament,  and 
others  too  numerous  to  mention. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  EXCHEQUER  HOUSE. 

ALTHOUGH  the  Exchequer,  as  a member  of 
the  king’s  court,  is  in  some  respects  the 
oldest  judicial  assembly  in  the  kingdom,  there  are 
good  reasons  for  believing  that  its  functions  were 
performed  in  the  earliest  times  following  the  Con- 
quest by  one  of  its  departments  alone,  the  treasury. 
Here,  then,  it  will  be  seen  that  history  has  once 
more  repeated  itself,  since  the  latter  department 
has  practically  since  the  Restoration,  and  definitely 
since  the  reign  of  William  IV.,  taken  the  lead  in 
the  financial  administration  of  this  country. 

It  is  true  that  ancient  writers,  followed  by  more 
recent  authorities,  have  claimed  for  the  Exchequer 
an  antiquity  considerably  greater  than  that  which 
is  usually  assigned  to  it,  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  ; 
but  the  scanty  evidence  that  exists  points  to  the 
employment  of  a much  more  primitive  expedient 
for  auditing  the  revenue  during  the  reigns  of 
the  first  two  Norman  kings.  As  the  Exchequer 


63 


Ehe  Ex  chequer  House. 

of  Normandy  was  of  later  date  than  the  similar 
institution  in  England,  the  tradition  of  its  intro- 
duction by  the  Conqueror  will  not  bear  inspection. 
Neither  is  it  possible,  as  some  have  suggested, 
on  the  authority  of  certain  passages  in  Domesday 
Book,  wherein  mention  is  made  of  fixed  farms 
rendered  to  the  crown,  to  connect  the  Anglo- 
Norman  Exchequer  of  the  twelfth  century  with 
the  financial  organization  of  the  eleventh. 

Of  course  Saxon  kings  possessed  crowm  lands, 
and  considerable  sums  were  levied  at  times  by  the 
state,  notably  the  Danegeld,  which  must  have 
been  accounted  for ; but  the  only  trace  of  a 
revenue  department  before  the  beginning  of  the 
twelfth  century  is  found,  as  has  been  stated,  in 
connection  with  the  royal  treasury.  The  evidence 
in  question  is  clearly  unsatisfactory,  but  it  is  better 
than  the  confused  and  purely  conjectural  account 
given  of  the  origin  of  the  court  itself  by  writers 
who  lived  within  one  generation  of  the  received 
date  of  its  establishment.  There  is  only  one  posi- 
tive statement  which  can  be  depended  on,  and 
this  is  to  the  efFect  that  the  audit  held  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century  at  the  Exchequer 
formerly  took  place  ‘at  the  Tallies.’  This  expres- 
sion in  itself  denotes  the  actual  place  of  receipt 
and  issue  of  the  revenue  rather  than  a court  or 
council  chamber. 

Our  first  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  posi- 


64  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


tion,  contents,  and  machinery  of  the  court  of 
Exchequer  is  formed  through  the  notices  contained 
in  the  Pipe  Rolls  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  and 
the  still  more  detailed  description  furnished  by 
the  author  of  the  Dialogus  de  Scaccario  about  the 
year  1177. 

But  previous  to  this  we  have  positive  know- 
ledge of  the  establishment  of  a royal  Exchequer 
early  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  great  Bishop  of  Salisbury,  Roger  le  Poer, 
with  whose  family  its  organization  is  exclusively 
associated  down  to  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century.  We  have  seen  that  during  the  first  half 
of  this  century  the  king’s  treasury  had  the  Castle 
of  Winchester  for  its  principal  centre,  and  in  the 
same  way  tradition  has  assigned  the  king’s  Palace 
of  Westminster  as  the  site  of  the  contemporary 
sessions  of  the  Exchequer.  The  Exchequer,  indeed, 
is  more  closely  connected  with  the  archaeology  of 
Westminster  than  any  other  secular  institution 
before  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  It  is  true  that 
from  this  date  the  ancient  palace  was  the  fixed 
seat  of  the  law  courts,  in  which  the  Exchequer 
court  was  thenceforth  merged  ; but  so  long  as  the 
king’s  court  and  Exchequer  were  distinct,  though 
parallel  departments,  the  latter  really  monopolized 
the  official  establishment  at  Westminster.  It  may 
be  urged,  however,  that  in  this  archaeological  aspect 
the  king’s  court  is  the  older  institution,  held  here 


T^he  Exchequer  House .. 


65 


possibly  in  King  Edward’s  day,  in  the  White 
Hall  or  Painted  Chamber,  and  transplanted  by 
the  Red  King  to  a more  dignified  habitation  in  the 
Great  Hall,  with  which  it  has  ever  since  been 
associated.  But  it  is  obvious  that  this  view  of 
the  matter  entirely  assumes  the  permanent  or 
official  establishment  of  the  king’s  court  at  any  one 
centre.  In  truth,  it  had  no  such  establishment, 
but  followed  the  king  from  one  palace  to  another, 
its  members  being  for  the  most  part  household 
officers  as  expert  as  any  barons  of  the  Exchequer, 
but  differing  from  the  latter  in  this  important 
particular,  that  they  had  no  impedimenta — in  the 
shape  of  a chequered  table,  a score  or  so  of  iron 
chests  stuffed  with  rolls  and  books  of  reference, 
an  equal  number  of  bins  full  of  tallies  and  writs 
for  every  English  county,  and  a smelting  furnace 
— but  could  assemble  anywhere  and  decide  off- 
hand a knotty  point  of  law. 

Therefore  the  Great  Hall  of  Rufus  must  not 
be  looked  on  as  the  home  of  the  king’s  court 
before  the  thirteenth  century,  for  it  was  not  neces- 
sarily used  as  a court-house,  even  when  the  court 
happened  to  be  at  Westminster,  at  the  feast  of 
Pentecost,  or  for  any  other  purpose  than  a council, 
a coronation  feast,  or  some  other  imposing  cere- 
mony. In  any  case,  however,  when  the  king, 
after  a few  days’  stay,  had  recommenced  the 
round  of  his  more  favoured  hunting-lodges,  West- 

5 


66  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


minster  knew  the  court  no  more  until  the  next 
fitful  visit  of  royalty,  and  absolutely  no  trace  of 
its  official  existence  was  left  behind,  except  the 
records  of  the  court,  bundles  of  rolls,  and  bales 
of  writs,  which  appear  to  have  been  deposited  in 
the  treasury  of  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer. 

Now,  it  is  the  existence  of  the  latter  as  an 
essential  department  of  the  Exchequer  which  con- 
stitutes the  difference  between  the  two  great 
courts,  and  explains  the  existence  of  a permanent 
financial  staff  under  the  treasurer  and  chamberlains 
of  the  Exchequer  at  Westminster.  The  barons  of 
the  Exchequer  themselves  were  scarcely  distinguish- 
able, in  the  time  of  which  we  treat,  from  the 
justices  of  the  king’s  court.  Both  were  equally 
courtiers,  and  the  members  of  one  department  were 
equally  versed  in  the  routine  of  the  other  up  to  a 
certain  point.  It  is  only  here  and  there  that  an 
expert  stands  out  as  a specialist  in  jurisprudence 
or  finance — a Glanvile  or  a Fitz-Nigel.  These 
barons  made  little  longer  stay  at  Westminster  than 
their  brethren  of  the  king’s  court,  though  the 
period  and  scope  of  their  work  were  rigidly 
marked  out  for  them  ; but  at  the  end  of  the  short 
session  they  left  behind  them  all  the  apparatus 
of  their  office  in  charge  of  deputies,  the  clerical 
staff  of  the  Receipt.  The  president  and  constable 
and  courtiers  of  the  pattern  of  Master  Brown 
went  to  follow  the  court,  the  treasurer  and 


The  Exchequer  House.  67 

chamberlains  to  hover  between  the  king’s  chamber 
and  treasury,  while  the  legal  barons  went  on 
circuit  in  the  provinces  for  the  nice  adjustment 
of  scutages  and  assarts.  The  marshal  only  was 
left  with  his  prisoners  and  tallies  to  dispose  of. 
But  in  the  lower  Exchequer,  or  Receipt,  the  deputy 
chamberlains,  the  treasurer’s  clerk,  and  divers 
clerks  and  serjeants,  would  be  found  hard  at  work 
on  occasion  long  after  the  barons  had  adjourned. 
It  is  true  that  during  the  recess,  the  majority  of 
these  clerks  would  return  to  their  normal  employ- 
ment, being  paid  only  for  the  session,  those  detained 
on  the  king’s  business  being  recognisable  by  the 
extra  allowances  awarded  them,  but  even  so  some 
regular  official  must  have  been  in  constant  residence 
at  Westminster.  Therefore,  when  the  final  act  of 
the  session  was  accomplished — that  is  to  say,  when, 
after  compiling  and  checking  (with  much  wrang- 
ling in  their  respective  master’s  honour)  and  sealing 
the  summonses  to  the  sheriffs  against  the  next 
session,  the  clerks  and  scribes  of  the  chancellor 
and  treasurer  had  returned  to  the  chapel  or  scrip- 
torium ; when  the  four  tellers  had  started  in  charge 
of  a treasure-train  of  lumbering  carts  and  great 
wooden  hutches,  that  there  might  be  no  mysterious 
leakage  of  silver  pennies,  and  the  deputy  chamber- 
lains had  donned  armour  and  mounted  horse  as 
their  escort  to  scare  away  marauders  according  to 
the  terms  of  their  office,  and  the  remaining  officials 

5—2 


68  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


had  taken  a holiday  like  their  betters,  and  finally 
the  marshal,  after  having  seen  the  usher  of  the 
barons’  chamber  safely  on  his  way  with  the 
summonses  to  be  served  upon  the  debtors  of  the 
crown  in  every  shire,  had  himself  departed  to 
change  the  air  of  vaults  and  gaols  for  the  breezes 
of  the  Wiltshire  Downs — even  then  the  permanent 
establishment  of  the  Exchequer  was  represented 
by  the  usher  of  the  Receipt,  who  kept  the  keys, 
and  went  the  rounds  of  the  building  night  and 
morning,  while  the  domestic  servants  of  the  absent 
usher  of  the  barons’  chamber  gave  heed  that  there 
was  no  leakage  through  the  tiles  upon  the  chequered 
table,  and  that  the  moth  and  rust  were  excluded 
from  the  hangings  of  the  walls  and  the  linen  blinds 
of  the  windows,  being  overlooked  in  turn  by  the 
keeper  of  the  king’s  palace,  who  was  also  warder 
of  the  Fleet  Prison. 

So  far  the  permanent  existence  of  the  Exchequer 
appears  to  be  established,  and  these  contemporary 
indications  are  confirmed  by  the  unbroken  evidence 
of  its  later  history  since  the  beginning  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.  A difficulty  now  arises,  as  we 
have  seen,  in  locating  this  permanent  establish- 
ment, at  Westminster  itself  in  the  first  instance, 
and  furthermore  at  any  particular  site  within  the 
confines  of  the  royal  palace  there. 

The  original  position  of  the  Exchequer  chamber 
seems  to  have  been  on  the  north-east  side  of 


The  Exchequer  House. 


69 


Westminster  Palace.  There  is,  indeed,  nothing 
to  prove  this,  except  the  immemorial  tradition  of 
the  position  of  the  Receipt  in  that  quarter,  the 
existence  of  ancient  foundations  alluded  to  by 
Stowe,  and  the  fact  of  the  later  transfer  of  the 
Exchequer  court  to  the  north-west  side  of  the 
Hall  of  Rufus  after  the  incorporation  of  the 
Exchequer  chamber  with  the  common  Jaw  courts. 
We  may  assume,  however,  that  the  * house  of 
the  Exchequer  ’ was  situated  in  the  river-garden  of 
the  old  palace.  The  new  palace  was  admittedly 
an  abortive  product  of  regal  ambition,  extending 
no  further  than  the  Great  Hall  ; but  before  long 
other  buildings  of  an  equally  official  character  were 
grouped  round  it,  including,  in  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  a state  chapel  and  the  Exchequer 
house.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Hall  of  Rufus 
there  may  have  been  some  temporary  buildings, 
though  it  is  difficult  to  conjecture  their  official  use, 
for  the  constabulary  and  the  more  domestic  offices 
of  the  household  dignitaries  were  probably  located 
in  the  basement  of  the  old  palace.  There  was 
one  other  building  within  the  precincts  of  the  old 
palace  which  has  a greater  interest  than  any  other 
in  connection  with  the  Exchequer.  This  is  the 
specula , or  watch-tower,  4 near  unto  the  river 
Thames,’  in  which  the  king’s  treasurer  sat  when 
he  was  4 in  residence  ’ at  Westminster  in  the  year 
1177.  This  tower  may  be  with  some  confidence 


jo  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

identified  with  the  Norman  structure  which 
formerly  abutted  on  the  east  side  of  the  Great 
Hall.  It  may  possibly  be  further  identified  with 
certain  ‘ chambers  ’ which  we  know  were  provided 
for  the  convenience  of  the  barons  in  the  reign  of 
King  John.  This  tower,  communicating  directly 
with  the  official  staff  of  the  king’s  chapel  or 
Chancery,  and  also  with  the  king’s  chamber  in 
the  interior  of  the  old  palace,  and  directly  over- 
looking the  Receipt  with  its  precious  contents, 
is  the  real  key  to  the  position  of  the  ancient 
Exchequer.  The  description  of  this  tower  as 
‘ near  to  the  river  ’ may  have  been  necessary  to 
distinguish  it  from  another  tower  at  the  south- 
west angle  of  the  old  palace  walls,  being,  indeed, 
the  point  furthest  removed  from  the  river,  and 
which  might  be  described  in  contra-distinction  to 
the  other  as  ‘ near  to  the  church.’  The  com- 
munication between  the  old  and  new  palaces  was 
apparently  by  a path  from  the  north-east  side 
of  the  White  Hall.  This  gave  access  to  the 
gardens  and  the  river  equally,  or  (by  passing 
through  the  doors  of  the  chapel)  to  the  watch- 
tower  and  Exchequer  house,  and  the  south-east 
side  of  the  new  palace  yard.  But  whatever  may 
have  been  the  exact  situation  of  the  Exchequer 
house,  we  are  enabled  to  form  a fairly  good  idea 
of  its  interior  plan  from  the  description  in  the 
Dialogus. 


The  Exchequer  House. 


7l 


Here  we  have  an  upper  and  a lower  Exchequer, 
both  apparently  contained  in  the  same  building  ; 
for  though  this  appellation  may  have  been  merely 
used  to  designate  their  respective  importance,  we 
cannot  ignore  the  descriptive  sense  of  those  terms 
where  greater  and  less  would  otherwise  have 
seemed  more  appropriate  ; and,  indeed,  we  find 
that  the  upper  Exchequer  is  called  ‘ the  greater  ’ 
equally  with  its  officers  when  it  was  desired  to 
describe  its  importance  rather  than  its  position. 
There  are,  however,  several  other  references  to 
Exchequer  houses.  In  the  account  of  the 
trial  of  the  pyx  given  in  the  Dialogus  we  find 
that  the  assayer  carried  the  box  containing  the 
sample  coins  selected  by  him  from  the  heaps 
undergoing  the  process  of  counting  and  weighing 
in  the  Receipt  from  the  lower  to  the  upper  Ex- 
chequer, and  after  the  coins  had  been  examined, 
and  the  pyx  sealed  by  the  Barons,  he  returned,  as 
it  would  appear,  accompanied  by  the  overseers 
nominated  on  both  sides,  once  more  to  the  Receipt, 
where  the  smelter,  * forewarned  ’ of  their  approach, 
had  fanned  the  furnace  to  the  necessary  heat. 
Then  as  soon  as  the  operation  was  fairly  accom- 
plished, the  party  returned  to  the  upper  chamber 
to  weigh  the  molten  silver  in  the  presence  of  the 
Barons.  It  is  just  possible,  of  course,  that  this  opera- 
tion was  really  carried  out  in  the  treasury  of  the 
abbey,  where  the  trial  of  the  pyx  was  held  down 


72  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


to  recent  times.  Each  Exchequer  was  probably 
divided  into  two  chambers,  the  upper  containing 
the  court-room  and  council  chamber,  and  the  lower 
a counting-house,  also  used  as  a scriptorium,  and 
a treasury.  This  treasury,  however,  is  described 
by  Elizabethan  writers  as  adjoining  the  Receipt. 
There  were  two  ushers  or  door  - keepers,  the 
principal  one  of  whom  held  a quasi-hereditary 
office  in  the  upper  Exchequer.  It  was  his  duty 
to  admit  only  those  who  had  business  to  the 
4 outer  chamber,’  and  none  but  the  Barons  to  the 
4 inner  chamber.’  It  is  significant  that  throughout 
the  reign  we  find  this  officer  paid  out  of  the 
farm  of  London.  The  usher  of  the  Receipt  was 
specially  charged  with  the  custody  of  the  treasury 
door,  and  he  also  provided  all  the  necessary 
implements  at  a fixed  rate,  including  ink,  pur- 
chased by  him  from  the  sacristan  of  Westminster. 
Especial  emphasis  is  laid  in  the  Dialogus  on  the 
fact  that,  unlike  every  other  member  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, the  usher  of  the  upper  or  Barons’  chamber 
(who  was  employed  at  the  close  of  the  session  in 
serving  the  new  summonses  on  the  sheriffs) 
was  employed  as  a permanent  domestic  servant 
of  the  treasurer  and  chamberlains.  This  is 
proof  that  the  Exchequer  treasury  formed  a 
permanent  department  at  Westminster,  and  this 
disposes  of  the  suggestion  that  after  the  session 
the  officers  of  the  Exchequer  were  transferred  to 


73 


The  Exchequer  House. 

Winchester,  together  with  the  contents  of  the 
treasury.  It  was  probably  also  the  duty  of  the 
senior  usher  to  see  that  the  Barons’  chambers  were 
duly  swept  and  aired  during  the  recess,  for  we 
read  that  he  was  assisted  in  his  duties  by  the 
servants  of  his  family.  Finally,  we  have  seen  that 
at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  the 
barons  sent  for  the  two  ushers  of  the  Exchequer  at 
Westminster  before  the  recess,  and  directed  them 
as  to  special  precautions  to  be  taken  for  the 
custody  of  its  contents,  and  this  later  notice  may 
be  fairly  considered  as  explanatory  of  the  earlier 
practice  indicated  in  the  Dialogus. 

From  the  end  of  the  thirteenth  century  onwards, 
owing  to  disastrous  fires  and  ambitious  schemes  of 
reconstruction,  the  external  position  and  internal 
arrangements  of  the  ancient  houses  were  changed 
beyond  all  possibility  of  recognition.  The  nature 
of  the  principal  changes  that  were  made  in  the 
official  economy  of  the  royal  Exchequer  can,  how- 
ever, be  roughly  ascertained,  and  will  be  found  to 
consist  in  the  complete  separation  of  the  Barons’ 
chamber,  now  dignified  with  the  real,  instead  of 
the  honorary,  appellation  of  a court,  from  the 
lower  Exchequer,  and  its  removal  to  more  com- 
modious premises  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Great  Hall.  The  Receipt,  however,  still  retained 
its  ancient  site  until  comparatively  recent  times, 
now  occupying,  apparently,  both  floors  of  the 


74  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Exchequer  house,  and  administered  by  an  augmented 
and  more  dignified  official  staff,  but  retaining  with 
the  new  establishment  all  the  ancient  usages  and 
practice  of  the  old. 

Although  the  Exchequer  was  usually  held  at 
Westminster,  yet,  like  the  king’s  court  and  the 
treasury  itself,  it  was  occasionally  located  in  some 
other  place,  though  rarely  for  more  than  the 
duration  of  a single  session.  In  the  stormy  reign 
of  King  John  the  Exchequer  was  twice  removed  to 
Northampton,  in  the  ioth  and  nth  years.  In 
the  1 8th  year  of  Edward  I.  it  was  ordered  to  be 
held  at  the  Husting  in  the  City  of  London.  In 
the  26th  year  of  the  same  reign,  and  again  in  the 
1 5th  year  of  Edward  II.,  the  Exchequer,  including 
the  Receipt  and  all  the  treasure,  rolls,  tallies,  etc., 
was  moved  bodily  to  York,  owing  to  the  exigencies 
of  the  Scotch  war.  Here  a council  chamber  or 
court  was  specially  prepared  for  the  Barons  within 
the  castle,  the  accounts  being  taken  in  the  great 
hall  of  the  castle,  while  the  Receipt  department 
found  accommodation  in  the  castle  tower,  which 
was  newly  furnished  with  bolts  and  bars  for  the 
safe  keeping  of  the  treasure.  The  records  were 
then  transferred  with  every  precaution,  and  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  the  sheriffs  of  the 
several  counties  to  be  traversed.  We  read  in  a 
contemporary  chronicler  that  they  filled  twenty- 
two  carts,  though  the  official  return  only  gives 


T’he  Exchequer  House. 


75 


eighteen.  It  is  curious  to  find  here  already  an 
elaborate  division  of  the  Exchequer  into  official 
departments,  to  each  of  which  one  or  more  carts 
was  assigned.  The  sessions  of  the  Exchequer  were 
so  frequently  held  at  York  at  this  time  that  an 
alternative  scale  of  allowances  or  journey  money 
for  the  sheriffs  was  prepared  according  as  the 
Exchequer  happened  to  be  in  London  or  at  York. 

During  the  whole  of  the  earlier  period  of  its 
existence  the  Exchequer  was  sometimes  supple- 
mented by  local  Exchequers  which  might  or  might 
not  be  permanent.  Such  apparently  were  the 
Exchequers  held  at  Salisbury,  Oxford,  Northampton 
and  Winchester.  There  was  an  Exchequer  for 
Wales  at  Carnarvon  and  Chester,  besides  those  at 
Carlisle  and  Berwick,  presumably  for  Scotland, 
under  Edward  I.’s  protectorship,  while  the  Ex- 
chequer at  Dublin  was  very  perfectly  elaborated. 
The  Exchequer  of  the  Jews  formed  a parallel  de- 
partment to  the  central  court,  and  there  was  also 
an  Exchequer  in  the  Tower  in  connection  with  the 
mint,  and  another,  doubtless,  in  the  Wardrobe. 
There  seems  to  have  been  a private  Exchequer  at 
one,  at  least,  of  the  king’s  hunting  palaces,  Wood- 
stock.  The  great  Bishop  of  Winchester  had  an 
Exchequer  of  his  own  at  Wolverley,  with  machinery 
capable  of  producing  miniature  Pipe  Rolls  of  bailiffs’ 
accounts,  and  this  Exchequer  was  utilized  by  the 
crown  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see. 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


The  last  removal  of  the  Exchequer  for  reasons 
of  state  took  place  in  the  year  1643,  when  it  was 
established  at  Oxford  together  with  a royalist 
Parliament.  It  was,  however,  revived  at  West- 
minster in  1654  by  the  lord  protector,  and 
quickly  adapted  itself  to  the  new  methods  of 
finance  which  arose  from  the  ruins  of  the  old 
feudal  revenue  of  the  crown. 

In  September,  1666,  the  Exchequer  was  once 
more  removed,  this  time  only  as  far  as  Nonsuch, 
‘ in  the  time  of  ye  late  dreadful  fire  in  London/ 
The  removal,  which  was  by  water,  occupied 
several  days.  Seven  barges  were  pressed  for  the 
purpose  by  the  troops  who  were  employed  in 
guarding  the  treasure  and  records,  which  lay 
scattered  in  process  of  packing  from  Monday  to 
Friday.  At  the  same  time  the  goods  and  furniture 
of  the  several  resident  officers  were  also  removed. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  EXCHEQUER. 

HE  clerical  establishment  of  the  Exchequer  as 


it  existed  in  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 
century  will  be  found  to  have  undergone  very  few 
changes  during  the  seven  hundred  years  which 
elapsed  since  its  first  institution.  Just  as  there  were 
two  distinct  departments  of  the  Exchequer  house — 
the  upper  and  the  lower — so  each  had  its  appropriate 
staff  of  officers.  In  the  case  of  the  lower  Exchequer, 
however,  it  was  laid  down,  as  early  as  the  twelfth 
century,  that  here  the  barons  or  clerks  of  the 
upper  house  were  directly  represented  by  their 
respective  deputies  or  subordinates,  and  the  cor- 
rectness of  this  assertion  may  to  some  extent  be 
realized  by  the  following  classification  of  the  offices 
in  existence  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II. : 

Upper  Exchequer.  Lower  Exchequer. 

President. 

Treasurer.  \ 

■^Treasurer’s  scribe.  Treasurer’s  clerk. 

*Clerk  of  the  rolls.  ) 


7 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Upper  Exchequer. 
Chancellor 
Chancellor’s  clerk. 
^Chancellor’s  scribe. 
Constable. 

Marshal. 

* Constable’s  clerk. 


Chamberlains. 
*Cutter  of  the  tallies. 
*Knight  assayer. 
*Melter. 


Lower  Exchequer. 


\ 

f 

Deputy  chamberlains. 

Usher. 

Tellers. 

- •<  Weigher. 

Watchman. 

Clerks,  Serjeants,  Porters, 
Messengers. 


Of  the  above  officials,  the  president  was  nor- 
mally the  justiciar,  who  represented  the  sovereign 
in  this  as  in  other  capacities.  He  had  the  exercise 
of  patronage  from  the  appointment  of  an  usher  to 
the  farm  of  a manor,  held  Exchequer  pleas,  and 
supervised  the  issue  of  writs  of  allowance,  etc.,  to 
accountants  on  behalf  of  the  crown. 


The  chancellor  represented  the  equitable  power 
of  the  Curia  in  the  Exchequer.  There  he  was  the 
nominal  custodian  of  the  great  seal,  and  he  checked 
the  accuracy  of  the  treasurer's  records  in  the  com- 
position of  his  own  rescripts.  At  his  disposal  was 
a scribe,  who  copied  the  great  roll,  word  for  word, 
from  the  treasurer’s  clerk,  to  form  the  antigraph 
known  as  the  chancellor’s  roll.  Together  with 
this  scribe,  the  chancellor  owned  a clerk,  whose 
chief  duty  it  was  to  overlook  his  brother  of  the 


79 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 

pen  to  ensure  additional  accuracy,  for  such  was 
the  authority  of  the  great  roll  that  its  dictum 
would  have  been  maintained  in  spite  of  manifest 
right  and  equity,  were  it  not  possible  to  check  its 
accuracy  by  means  of  this  careful  rescript.  Then, 
if  the  chancellor  challenged  the  authority  of  the 
leading  record,  the  question  at  issue  was  argued 
before  the  Barons  and  decided  by  them. 

The  constable  was  actively  employed,  with  the 
assistance  of  his  clerk,  in  paying  stipends  out  of 
the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer  to  royal  officers  and 
other  claimants,  after  duly  investigating  their 
claims.  He  was  also  called  upon  to  attest  writs 
with  the  justiciar. 

The  marshal’s  duty  was  to  keep  the  writs 
and  the  returned  tallies  of  the  sheriffs’  creditors 
in  bundles  for  each  county,  to  take  charge  of 
offenders  committed  to  his  custody  for  contempt 
of  the  court,  and  to  take  the  accountants’  oaths. 
It  was  also  his  privilege  to  pay  the  salaries  and 
allowances  of  Exchequer  officials ; but  as  these 
latter  were  experts,  and  the  coinage  of  the  period 
none  of  the  finest,  it  was  found  necessary  to 
ordain  that,  if  any  official  noticed  a wrong  amount 
or  indifferent  coinage  in  the  payment  made  to  him 
(on  the  spot)  he  might  seek  redress,  but  once 
beyond  the  door  none  of  his  money  was  ever  ex- 
changed. 

The  tallies  proper  were  made  by  a regular 


8o  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


‘ cutter,’  the  chamberlain’s  serjeant.  It  will  be 
seen  in  the  next  chapter  that  the  system  was 
identical  with  that  of  the  Exchequer  table  and  the 
Exchequer  dots,  holding  the  middle  place  in  point 
of  financial  development  between  the  two,  between 
picture-writing,  that  is,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
shorthand  on  the  other. 

The  chamberlains  were  two  highly-dignified 
officials,  who  assisted  the  treasurer  in  his  arduous 
labours  and  shared  the  responsibilities  of  his  office. 

The  clerk  of  the  rolls  provided  suitable  scribes, 
and  superintended  their  labours  in  the  scrip- 
torium. 

The  office  of  the  treasurer  was  the  most  im- 
portant of  any.  He  had  the  superintendence  of 
every  department,  but  his  especial  care  was  in  the 
matter  and  composition  of  the  great  roll.  This 
was  written  by  his  clerk  on  sheep-skins  specially 
selected.  Each  single  roll  was  usually  composed 
of  two  large  membranes,  and  had  lines  ruled  on  it 
from  top  to  bottom.  The  headings  and  entries 
were  made  at  regular  intervals,  and  according  to 
established  form  and  order.  In  case  of  a clerical 
error,  no  erasure  was  ever  permitted,  but  an  inter- 
lineation was  made  when  necessary,  to  which  regu- 
lation the  use  of  sheep-skins  is  attributable,  these 
being  most  sensitive  to  erasure. 

Besides  these  important  officials,  there  were  two 
other  fiscal  experts  nominated  by  the  justiciar 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


8 1 


or  treasurer — the  master  of  assays  and  the  assayer 
— whose  duties  will  be  explained  in  another  place. 

The  four  tellers,  though  here  in  a subordinate 
position,  became  officers  of  considerable  dignity  in 
Tudor  and  Stuart  times,  when,  in  fact,  their  duties 
were  performed  by  deputies. 

The  deputy  chamberlains  were  the  most  charac- 
teristic officers  of  the  Receipt,  where,  with  the 
treasurer’s  clerk,  they  superintended  the  entire 
operations  connected  with  the  housing  of  the 
treasure  and  records  and,  under  the  direction  of 
the  treasurer  and  chamberlains,  of  the  payment  of 
money-orders. 

The  office  of  usher  was  in  reality  a place  of 
considerable  importance  and  profit.  It  was  granted 
by  Henry  II.,  early  in  his  reign,  to  Roger  of 
Wallingford,  or  Roger  of  the  Exchequer,  in 
whose  family  it  was  long  continued.  This  office 
was  held  by  serjeantry,  and  several  of  the  duties 
belonging  to  it  were  performed  by  deputies. 

There  were  numerous  clerks  or  serjeants  of  the 
Receipt  who  were  employed  both  in  manual  opera- 
tions, such  as  packing  and  carting  the  treasure,  and 
also  as  messengers. 

It  is  to  be  observed,  however,  that  those  officers 
marked  with  an  asterisk  in  the  above  list  were 
properly  members  of  the  Receipt,  or  of  the  depart- 
ment known  as  the  scriptorium.  These,  then, 
by  a military  figure  of  speech,  were  designated  as 

6 


82  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


the  ‘ soldiers  ’ of  the  superior  officers,  just  as 
‘ pawns * were  employed  in  the  chess-game  itself. 
Most  of  these  offices,  indeed,  were  held  in  fee,  or 
by  the  performance  of  some  serjeanty,  in  the  same 
way  that  so  many  household  offices  were  held  dur- 
ing the  Middle  Ages.  Thus  the  famous  Countess 
of  Albemarle,  Isabella  de  Fortibus,  was  a cham- 
berlain of  the  Exchequer,  and  appointed  her  own 
seneschal,  Adam  de  Stratton,  as  her  deputy.  It  was 
difficult  in  any  case  for  the  great  officers  of  state 
to  give  a regular  attendance  at  the  Exchequer, 
on  account  of  their  necessary  attendance  on  the 
king’s  person.  Thus,  in  course  of  time,  the 
chancellor,  chamberlains,  constable,  and  marshal 
ceased  to  attend,  and  new  clerical  officers  per- 
formed their  duties.  The  office  of  justiciar  was 
extinct  before  the  reign  of  Edward  L,  and  the 
practical  administration  of  the  revenue  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  treasurer  and  barons. 

Between  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  and  that  of 
Edward  II.  the  establishment  and  constitution 
of  the  Exchequer  were  permanently  settled,  several 
important  administrative  changes  being  rendered 
necessary  by  the  continued  non-residence  of  certain 
officers  of  the  upper  chamber.  The  close  connec- 
tion which  existed,  in  the  days  of  Richard  Fitz- 
Nigel,  between  the  clerks  of  the  king’s  chapel  and 
the  scriptorium  of  the  Receipt,  had  come  to  an 
end  with  the  erection  of  a chancery  department 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  83 


at  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  chan- 
cellor, with  his  vigilant  clerk  and  skilful  scribe, 
being  now  employed  in  other  business  of  state,  it 
was  necessary  that  their  places  should  be  filled  by 
other  officers  in  order  to  continue  the  control  of 
the  treasurers  department,  which  the  crown  had 
from  the  first  so  jealously  exercised.  From  this 
time  onward,  therefore,  the  duties  hitherto  per- 
formed by  the  chancellor’s  staff  and  special  com- 
missioners, like  Richard  of  Ilchester  and  Master 
Thomas  Brown,  were  assigned  to  a new  sub- 
division of  the  Exchequer  itself.  In  appearance 
the  change  was  only  in  name.  The  comptroller 
of  the  Pipe  was  the  new  title  of  the  old  scribe  of 
the  chancery,  while  the  chancellor’s  clerk  became 
dignified  with  the  familiar  title  of  chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer,  just  as  new  offices  had  formerly 
been  created  for  the  deputies  of  the  king’s  con- 
stable, marshal,  and  chamberlains.  A little  later 
still  another  officer,  called  the  clerk  of  the  writs, 
was  added  to  the  ex-chancery  staff.  At  the  same 
time  the  treasurer  himself,  being  now  more 
seriously  engaged  with  state  affairs,  delegated  a 
large  part  of  his  personal  duties  to  his  own  clerk 
and  scribe,  who  were  henceforth  better  known  as 
the  under-treasurer  of  the  Exchequer  and  the  clerk 
of  the  Pipe  respectively.  The  real  significance  of 
these  official  changes  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  whole 
staff  was  for  the  first  time  united  under  the  direct 

6—2 


84  Antiquities  of  the  'Exchequer. 

control  of  the  treasurer,  the  audit  of  the  revenue 
being  checked  in  the  department  itself  by  a simple 
process  of  account. 

Other  material  changes  in  the  establishment  of 
the  Exchequer  were  due  to  the  great  expansion  of 
its  duties  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  it  had  been 
the  custom  for  the  barons  to  reserve  certain  points 
of  daily  practice  for  consideration  until  the  close 
of  the  audit,  which  memoranda , as  they  were 
termed,  were  entered  upon  a separate  roll.  In  • 
course  of  time  these  legal  notes  were  considerably 
augmented  through  the  rapid  expansion  of  the 
revenue  and  the  increased  difficulty  of  collecting 
it.  To  facilitate  this  work  a new  officer  was 
appointed  in  the  reign  of  Henry  III.,  called  the 
Remembrancer.  This  officer  kept  the  Memoranda 
Roll,  issued  processes  for  the  recovery  of  the  king’s 
debts,  and  acted,  in  fact,  as  the  solicitor  to  the 
treasury.  As  was  usual  at  this  time,  the  office 
was  executed  by  two  separate  clerks,  each  of 
whom  checked  the  other,  and  who  were  styled 
respectively  the  lord  treasurer’s  and  the  king’s 
Remembrancers.  There  had  also  been  in  use,  from 
the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  a systematic  registration  of 
every  sum  of  money  received  at  the  Receipt  in  the 
roll  kept  by  the  treasurer’s  clerk.  It  is  probable 
that  a similar  record  was  preserved  of  the  sums 
disbursed  there.  In  any  case  the  two  rolls,  called 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  85 


respectively  the  receipt  roll  and  the  issue  roll, 
were  made  up  daily,  for  each  term,  from  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.,  the  officer  in  charge  of  them 
being  thenceforth  styled  the  clerk  of  the  pells. 
This  was  the  origin  of  the  Pells  Office  of  the 
Exchequer.  The  customary  check  upon  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  clerk  of  the  pells  was  furnished 
by  the  appointment  of  a new  officer,  the  auditor 
of  the  Receipt,  who  recorded  in  duplicate  the 
several  receipts  and  issues. 

It  was  already  found  difficult  at  the  end  of  the 
twefth  century  to  include  the  entire  statement  of 
account  prepared  by  the  treasurer  every  Michael- 
mas within  the  compass  of  the  Pipe  Roll,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  a change  of  practice  was 
made  in  the  preparation  of  the  annual  rolls,  which 
gave  rise  to  several  new  offices.  These  were  the 
auditors  of  foreign  accounts  (every  source  of  revenue 
not  included  in  the  Pipe  Roll  being  called  ‘foreign’), 
the  clerk  of  the  Estreats,  the  foreign  apposer,  and 
the  clerk  of  the  Nichils,  the  nature  of  whose  em- 
ployment will  be  described  in  another  place. 

The  following  notice  of  the  establishment  of 
the  Exchequer  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  Edward  II. 
is  interesting,  not  only  on  account  of  its  probably 
unique  character,  but  also  for  the  mention  it  con- 
tains of  the  germ  of  certain  offices  which  were 
not  previously  known  to  have  existed  at  this  date. 
The  occasion  of  the  return  was  the  removal  of 


86  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

the  Exchequer  from  Westminster  to  York  before 
alluded  to,  when  the  barons  who  had  met  to 
arrange  the  details  of  the  removal  assigned  the 
provision  of  carts  made  for  this  purpose  in  the 
following  proportions  : 

The  office  of  Adam  de  Lymbergh,  king’s  Remem- 
brancer - - - - - 2 carts. 

The  office  of  William  de  Fulburne,  treasurer’s 

Remembrancer  - - - 3 carts. 

The  office  of  William  de  Everdon  and  R[obert]  de 

Wottone  - - - - 2 carts. 

The  office  of  John  de  Catfelde  - - - 1 cart. 

The  office  of  W.  de  Bereford,  justice  of  the  bench  - 2 carts. 

The  office  of  Adam  de  Herewyngtone  - 3 carts. 

The  office  of  the  chamberlains  of  the  Receipt  - 2 carts. 

The  same  for  the  counter-tallies  - - - 2 carts. 

Now,  although  only  two  Remembrancers  are 
known  to  have  existed  at  this  date,  it  is  a curious 
fact  that  both  William  de  Everdon  and  Robert  de 
Wotton  were  admitted  and  acting  as  such,  though 
apparently  in  a subordinate  position,  and  it  is  pro- 
bable that  we  see  here  the  germ  of  the  later  office 
of  secondary  of  the  Remembrancers.  John  de  Cat- 
felde probably  represented  the  Pells  or  Auditors 
departments;  William  de  Bereford  was  evidently 
responsible  for  the  Records  of  the  King’s  Bench 
and  Common  Pleas  ; Adam  de  Herewyngtone  was 
deputy  chamberlain,  and  doubtless  had  charge  of 
the  furniture  of  the  office,  or  perhaps  of  the 
treasure-chests  ; while  the  remaining  contents  of 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  87 

the  Receipt,  including  the  marshal’s  tallies,  were 
included  in  the  last  two  entries. 

This,  indeed,  was  the  age  of  reorganization  at 
the  Exchequer,  as  we  know  from  the  several 
statutes  and  ordinances  which  were  framed,  doubt- 
less at  the  instance  of  energetic  treasurers  like 
Bishop  Stapleton.  But  although  the  Exchequer 
attained  its  highest  perfection  as  a court  of 
revenue  long  before  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
its  establishment  did  not  reach  its  greatest  dimen- 
sions until  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, as  may  be  readily  gathered  from  the  following 
instructive  table  of  offices  and  fees  in  the  year  1593: 


Lord  High  Treasurer,  £368,  and  his  robes. 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  >£113  6s.  8d.,  and  his  livery. 
Lord  Chief  Baron,  £100,  and  ^20  as  justice  of  assize,  and 
his  livery. 

Barons,  j£qo  13s.  4.6..,  and  livery. 

Queen’s  Remembrancer,  £55  14s.  4d.,  and  livery. 

Lord  Treasurer’s  Remembrancer,  £ 6 4 2s.  id.,  and  livery. 
Clerk  of  the  Pipe,  £ 6 5 4s.  2d. 

Comptroller  of  the  Pipe,  ^15  2s. 

Five  Auditors  (each),  .£10. 

Foreign  Apposer,  £16  13s.  4d. 

Clerk  of  Estreats,  ,£15. 

Clerk  of  the  Pleas,  £5. 

Two  Marshals  (each),  £2  10s. 

Clerk  of  the  summonses,  ,£4. 

Two  Deputy  Chamberlains  (each),  ,£5. 

Two  secondaries  of  the  Queen’s  Remembrancer,  ^4. 

Three  secondaries  of  the  Pipe,  ^15. 

Pipe  office  clerk  for  offering  amercements,  £9  13s.  4d. 
Queen’s  Remembrancer’s  clerk  for  writing  fines  and 
amercements  to  crown,  £7  13s.  4d. 


88  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Lord  Treasurer’s  Remembrancer’s  clerk  for  affeering 
amercements,  £22  10s. 

Clerk  of  the  Pleas,  £6 1. 

Ushers  of  the  court,  ^140. 

Eight  porters  (each),  ^4,  and  livery. 

Two  chamberlains  (each),  £52  3s.  4d.,  and  livery. 

Under-treasurer  of  England,  ,£173,  and  livery. 

Clerk  of  the  tallies,  ^41  13s.  4d.,  and  livery. 

Clerk  of  the  Pells,  £61  16s.  8d. 

Four  Tellers  (each),  ^31  13s. 

Two  joiners  of  tallies  (each),  £10. 

Clerk  to  write  tallies  of  comptrolment,  £g. 

Porter  of  bags  and  treasurer’s  keys,  £6  6s.  8d. 

Four  messengers  (each),  4^d.  per  diem. 

Writers  of  the  declaration  of  revenues  of  court,  £30. 

Grooms  of  the  Receipt,  £2,  and  allowance  for  parchment. 

Ushers  of  Receipt  for  all  extras,  paper,  wax,  etc.,  £20 6. 

Nearly  a century  later  the  composition  of  the 
Exchequer  staff  is  found  to  be  almost  exactly  the 
same.  It  appears,  however,  by  a return  of  the 
state  of  the  civil  list  in  1679  that  the  salaries  of 
all  the  officers  had  been  largely  augmented.  On 
the  other  hand,  they  were  considerably  in  arrears, 
though  to  a less  extent  than  those  of  most  other 
public  offices — that  is  to  say,  only  some  two  years 
all  round  instead  of  eighteen  years.  The  later 
establishments,  from  Anne  to  George  III.,  exhibit 
few  changes,  though  from  the  latter  reign,  of  course, 
the  suppression  of  the  more  ancient  and  useless 
offices  proceeded  very  fast.  The  chamberlains 
were  abolished  in  1782,  and  in  1784  the  appoint- 
ment of  commissioners  for  auditing  the  public 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  89 


accounts  paved  the  way  for  greater  changes. 
Finally,  in  1833,  the  account  side,  or  the  Barons’ 
chamber,  was  swept  away,  and  the  lower  house,  or 
Receipt,  shared  the  same  fate.  The  office  of  Queen’s 
Remembrancer  alone  survived,  with  the  exception 
of  the  now  obsolete  functions  of  the  chancellor  of 
the  Exchequer  as  a baron  of  the  court.  The 
practical  work  of  the  Exchequer  was  henceforth 
performed  by  the  modern  departments  of  the 
Paymaster-general  and  Treasury  itself,  whilst  the 
place  of  the  Receipt  was  more  commodiously  occu- 
pied by  the  Bank  of  England. 

From  very  early  times  the  officers  of  the 
Exchequer  had  enjoyed  complete  immunity  from 
ordinary  taxation  and  other  liabilities  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  this  privilege  was  guarded  by  them  with 
great  jealousy  and  remarkable  success.  Thus  in 
all  returns  for  scutage,  Danegeld,  or  other  general 
assessments,  they  were  specially  excepted  by  name, 
and  these  exceptions  form  a principal  means  of 
identifying  the  members  of  the  court.  As  late  as 
the  year  1690  a special  representation  was  made 
by  the  lords  of  the  treasury  for  the  exemption  of 
Exchequer  officials  from  service  in  the  militia  on 
the  ground  of  their  immemorial  privilege.  This 
was  based  on  the  ancient  liberties  and  customs  of 
the  court,  whereby  its  members  could  not  be 
called  away  to  answer  any  civil  action  while  they 
were  engaged  in  the  king’s  service.  The  great 


90  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


precedent  book  of  the  Exchequer  is  full  of  cases 
in  point  carefully  entered  by  the  officials  for  their 
own  protection.  These  privileges  gave  great 
offence  to  less  favoured  servants  of  the  crown. 
The  author  of  the  Dialogus  relates  an  anecdote 
of  a scene  which  took  place  at  the  Exchequer  under 
Henry  II.,  when  the  barons  were  in  danger  of 
losing  their  immunity  from  taxation  owing  to  the 
representations  made  to  the  king  by  certain  jealous 
courtiers.  Contemporary  satirists  were  also  fond 
of  drawing  attention  to  the  pedantry  and  exclusive- 
ness of  the  official  staff,  who  neglected  the  service 
of  the  altar,  to  which  they  were  professed,  for  the 
rites  of  the  Exchequer  table,  and  who  were  better 
versed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  Great  Roll  than  in 
the  teaching  of  the  Scriptures.  There  is  certainly 
a spirit  of  professional  pride,  and  a callousness  to 
the  sufferings  and  wrongs  of  an  overtaxed  people, 
observable  in  the  financial  administration  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  together  with  a strong  suspicion 
of  personal  corruption,  and  the  popular  feeling 
expressed  on  this  subject  by  the  early  satirists 
found  some  justification  in  the  scandals,  punished 
from  time  to  time  by  the  crown  or  Parliament,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  terrible  outbreaks  of  popular 
indignation  connected  with  the  names  of  Wat 
Tyler  and  Jack  Cade. 

The  official  life  and  surroundings  of  an  officer  of 
the  king’s  Exchequer  during  the  Middle  Ages 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


9l 


differed  little  from  that  of  any  other  trusted 
courtier  or  learned  priest,  or  skilful  scribe  in  a 
country  which  has  been  well  described  by  a great 
historian  as  a ‘paradise  of  clerks.’  The  early 
training  in  schools  and  scriptorium  was  the  same, 
for  all  alike  a dreary  curriculum.  The  practice  in 
the  Exchequer  and  the  course  of  promotion  were 
equally  unvarying.  Literature  was  a real  solace 
to  some  few,  while  others  rose  or  fell  in  the 
slippery  ways  of  politics.  The  typical  official, 
however,  like  Alexander  de  Swereford,  the  arch- 
deacon, and  Bishop  Stapleton,  had  no  thought  or 
interest  outside  their  allotted  or  self-appointed 
tasks.  During  the  sessions  and  terms  of  the 
Exchequer  they  devoted  their  whole  attention  to 
the  financial  interests  of  the  crown.  In  their 
leisure  hours  they  arranged  the  records  of  the  court, 
or  compiled  monumental  works  of  official  reference. 
They  lived  and  died  in  harness,  and  their  autobio- 
graphy may  be  found  in  a crabbed  official  hand 
covering  the  surface  of  a thousand  parchment  rolls, 
the  record  of  a life’s  work  at  the  Exchequer. 

With  the  beginning  of  a new  era  of  personal 
monarchy  and  social  interest  the  officers  of  the 
Exchequer  appear  in  a more  humane  aspect.  Men 
like  the  two  Fanshawes  were  at  once  skilful  officials 
and  shrewd  men  of  the  world,  the  personal  friends 
of  statesmen  like  Winchester,  Mildmay,  and  Cecil. 
Their  official  correspondence  is  infinitely  varied,  and 


92  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


admits  us  behind  the  scenes  of  many  an  episode 
of  Elizabethan  statecraft.  The  semi-official  corre- 
spondence is  even  more  interesting,  illustrating 
the  relations  which  existed  between  Elizabethan 
ministers  and  ‘ permanent  heads  ’ of  departments. 
If  Burleigh’s  coal-merchant  is  arrested  for  debt  in 
the  act  of  delivering  his  lordship’s  winter  supply 
of  fuel,  Mr.  Fanshawe  is  requested  to  settle  the 
matter  by  an  official  stroke  of  the  pen.  If  another 
honest  tradesmen  has  been  informed  against  for 
unwittingly  breaking  the  statute  by  wearing  a silk 
nightcap,  he  is  sent,  cap  and  all,  to  the  obliging 
Remembrancer,  with  his  lordship’s  private  request 
that  he  will  ‘ end  the  matter  with  the  Customers 
and  let  him  go.’ 

The  private  correspondence  is  the  most  valuable 
of  all  for  our  present  purpose,  and  throws  a strong 
light  upon  the  domestic  life  of  a Tudor  official. 
Two  letters  have  been  selected  for  this  purpose. 
The  first  is  one  of  many  similar  epistles,  written  by 
the  wife  of  one  of  Fanshawe’s  colleagues  to  her 
husband  during  his  absence  from  his  country-seat 
on  the  business  of  the  Exchequer.  The  other  is  ap- 
parently written  by  the  mother-in-law  of  a famous 
Exchequer  lawyer. 

Mr.  Gamage, 

After  my  verie  hartie  commendations  unto 
you,  you  shall  understand  that  I haue  sent  in  the 


1 The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


93 


basket  a copple  of  henes,  a chesse,  a dussen  of 
puddinges,  fortie  egges,  and  some  apples  to  fill 
upp  the  basket.  Also  there  are  iiij  puddinges  for 
Edmond  Wright  out  of  the  bagge.  Goodman 
Birche  hathe  appointed  wth  one  to  paye  you 
certayne  money  at  London  ; whether  you  haue 
receavid  it  or  not  I know  not.  The  small  hogges 
that  Hewet  had  are  come  home  little  or  nothinge 
the  better  for  their  goinge.  If  Balstons  prove  no 
better,  we  shall  haue  no  porkers,  except  we  feed 
them  with  beanes.  Bigge  Fridaye’s  wif  hathe 
caused  the  corne  to  be  thresshed  out  which  was 
distrayned  for  the  debte  due  to  Harrise,  and 
Harise  prayeth  you  if  you  may  speake  with 
Mr.  Cirsten  to  geve  him  knowledge  thereof  and 
see  what  remedie  there  may  be  had  against  them 
that  thresshed  it.  I thank  you  for  your  orrenges 
wch  you  sent  me,  but  they  were  verie  muche  brused. 
Thus  wth  my  hartie  commendations  to  my  brother 
and  sister  I leaue  to  troble  you  at  this  present. 

From  Kingsey  this  second  of  February. 

Your  lovinge  wif 

Dorothe  Gamage. 


My  Beasse, 

I prethe  commend  my  kind  love  to  Kitt, 
and  tell  him  yt  I am  nowe  at  Hartingfordburye  soe 
I cannot  speake  wth  my  aunt  tell  Saterdaye  consarn- 
inge  ye  cloke : but  if  he  have  a desier  to  make  it 


94  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


up  before  ye  time  he  maye  do  it  for  I am  suer  she 
will  sell  it  and  I thinke  her  prise  will  be  reason- 
able and  especially  to  his  frind.  Ye  next  time 
Hale  cometh  after  I have  spoken  wth  her  he  shall 
knowe  ye  prise.  I have  sent  the  a letle  provision 
agen  this  time,  but  I cold  wish  it  were  much 
beter.  Ther  is  a goose  pye,  a netes  tounge  pye, 
and  a mutton  pastie  for  standers  for  thy  table  this 
Crismas,  for  a nede,  I knowe  they  will  last  tell 
twelftide  for  they  ar  now  newe  baked.  I have 
sent  the  a goose  and  ij  capens  alive  for  feare  they 
wold  not  last  tell  ye  holy  daies  if  they  had  bin 
killed,  but  I wish  the  to  kill  them  on  Saterday  at 
ye  furdest  lest  they  growe  worse.  I hope  they  ar 
fatt  nowe  therfore  it  were  pitye  they  should  fall. 
Ther  is  ij  cheses,  such  as  I have,  and  a pott  of  buter 
to  make  thy  pyecrust  because  thou  shalt  spare  thy 
firkin  still  tell  Lent.  If  thou  be  wise  perswade 
Kitt  to  make  no  more  doings  then  neds  must  this 
Cristmas  because  of  sparinge  of  his  purse  for  ye 
first  daye  of  ye  terme.  I prethe  doe  soe  much  as 
bestoe  for  me  vjd  or  viijd  in  sume  oringes  or  lemons 
or  ij  poun  siterns  and  sende  them  downe  nowe  by 
Hale.  I wold  have  them  to  give  to  my  La  : Per- 
nerton  wth  sum  other  things  (capens)  for  a New- 
yers  Guift.  I mene  to  give  it  nowe  before  I ge 
backe.  I have  nowe  sent  the  my  best  fine  sheete 
because  thou  hadst  a mind  to  it  for  thy  Newyers 
Guift  I wold  I wer  able  to  give  the  and  Kitt  as 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


95 


good  a Newyers  Guift  as  I cold  wish  but  as  thou 
lovest  me  send  me  none  but  this  that  I desier  the, 
a pair  of  cut  fingred  strong  longe  gloves,  not 
white,  to  wer  every  day,  of  viijd ; and  I prethe  send 
me  a mask  for  my  selfe  for  I was  dreven  to  send 
away  my  setten  on  to  Nan  Darnall  for  a token  and 
my  other  is  verye  bad  ; and  so  wth  my  best  wishes 
to  thee  y Kitt  I rest 

Thy  Mother  S.  D. 

I prethe  good  Bes  have  a good  sisterly  care  over 
Mall  for  nowe  she  is  in  ye  makeng  or  marring. 
Make  her  goe  clenly  nete  in  her  clothes,  and 
call  on  her  for  reding  and  writing,  and  locke  what 
nesaries  she  doeth  want  let  her  have  them  : when 
I com  I will  recken  wth  the  for  all.  I prethe  let 
her  goe  abrod  wth  the  whene  it  is  fitt  she  may  goe 
yl  she  may  lerne  howe  to  behave  her  selfe  by  seing 
of  others.  And  so  agen  far  well  Comend  me  to 
my  pretye  boyes  and  give  them  ther  aple  pastis 
from  me.  I am  sorrye  I have  no  beter  thing  to 
send  my  prety  knaves.  I pray  God  in  Heaven 
blesse  them  and  all  our  postritv.  Amen.  Ther  is 
for  every  on  a pasty,  on  for  the.  I have  sent  up 
thy  fether  for  she  if  thou  thinkest  good,  if  hats  be 
in  fashon,  or  els  twill  do  her  no  good. 

I have  sent  the  a rabet  for  thy  super  for  it  will 
not  last,  thou  sholdes  have  had  a cople  if  I cold 
got  them. 


96  Antiquities  of  the  'Exchequer . 


I protest  to  thee  I have  not  had  an  egge  ilaied 
of  my  owne  hens  since  thou  wentest  to  London ; 
nor  I thinke  shall  not  till  Shrovtide,  nor  we  can 
scerse  get  any  here  or  els  I wold  send  L mor  then 
I doe. 

Ye  capens  fed  themselves,  they  were  not  cramed. 

[Endorsed]  To  MRIS  Vernon. 

This  be 
d.d. 

It  would  appear  from  the  above  and  many 
similar  letters  of  the  period  that  the  new  school  of 
clerks  were  more  occupied  in  the  pursuit  of 
private  wealth  than  in  the  scientific  investigations 
of  their  mediaeval  predecessors.  There  were,  of 
course,  others  whose  duties  necessitated  a perma- 
nent residence  at  Westminster,  and  whose  every- 
day life  is  faithfully  described  in  the  curious  and 
unique  document  which  is  printed  below. 

Right  honourable  and  my  singler  good  Mr 
My  humble  duetie  withe  weepinge  teares 
remembred.  It  may  please  yor  honoure  to  under- 
stande  that  on  Frydaye  beinge  the  xxth  of  this  pre- 
sente Marche  all  the  tellers  and  other  officers  of  the 
Receipt  were  in  their  severall  offices,  where  they 
contynewed  till  xj  of  the  clokke  of  the  same  daye, 
at  whiche  tyme  they  breake  uppe,  leavinge  their 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer . 97 

offices  in  safetie  (as  they  have  ben  accustomed)  to 
my  custodie  and  chardge  ; so  departinge  they  went 
their  waies : after  whose  departure  I shut  the  dores, 
barringe  and  lockinge  the  same  and  brought  the 
kaies  therof  into  my  kitchen,  where  I hanged  the 
same  upon  an  yron  hooke  appoyncted  y dryven 
into  one  ende  of  the  mantel-tree  of  the  same 
kitchen  chymeney.  In  the  whiche  kitchen  I with 
my  wief  and  famylie  have  used  to  make  our  most 
abode  bothe  at  worke  dyner  and  supper.  And  at 
night  afore  wee  goe  to  our  beddes  I with  some  of 
the  rest  of  my  servauntes  haue  used  to  take  the 
same  kayes  and  to  open  the  dores  of  the  same 
Receipt  to  viewe  the  same  under  the  bordes  y 
all  other  corners,  whiche  doone  I haue  likewise 
used  to  locke  the  same  and  so  to  bringe  the  kaies 
therof  into  my  bed  chamber  where  also  uppon  a 
like  nayie  or  hooke  I hange  the  same  untill  the 
next  morninge.  This  notwithstanding  my  right 
honourable  y singuler  good  Mr.  I consideringe 
this  myssehappe  and  most  unfortunate  chaunce  to 
come  onlye  throughe  nryne  owne  faulte  and  more 
then  beastly  neglygence  in  so  lewdelye  abusinge 
my  self,  neyther  wayeinge  myne  allegeaunce  whiche 
I owe  to  my  moste  gratiouse  soveraigne  the 
queenes  royall  matie,  neither  ponderinge  myne  othe 
whiche  I tooke  at  my  first  cominge  to  the  same, 
neyther  yet  consideringe  the  greate  credite  comytted 
unto  me  of  so  great  a make  of  tresere,  of  all  others 

7 


98  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


moste  unworthy  the  same,  all  whiche  considerations 
(right  honourable)  dryve  me  to  bewaile  my 
wretched  fortune  and  happe  to  come  from  God 
onelie  most  justelye  for  my  neglygent  servinge  of 
God,  whiche  is  the  utter  undoinge  of  me  my  poure 
wief,  child  y famylie  for  ever.  For  the  whiche 
I am  moste  hartelie  sorry  euen  from  the  verie 
bottom  of  my  wretched  y myserable  hart 
(Almightie  God  is  bothe  witnes  and  judge  of  the 
same,  bedewed  withe  salte  £s?  wepinge  teares 
daye  night).  But  alas  this  sore  can  nowe  in 
no  waies  bee  salved,  consideringe  my  poure  estate 
and  lacke,  but  onlye  by  the  queenes  highnes  most 
mercifull  pardone  and  forgyveness  of  the  same. 
In  liewe  whereof  I confesse  myself  to  deserve  her 
highnes  most  grevous  and  hevie  displeasure.  The 
remembrance  therof  considered  dothe  and  shall 
greeve  me  dueringe  my  lief.  And  furder  waigh- 
inge  the  haynous  offence  by  me  commytted  against 
my  verye  good  lord,  my  lord  threasurer,  whome 
God  longe  preserve,  whose  great  goodness  both  I 
and  myne  have  often  felte  to  our  great  comforte. 
Moreover  the  consideration  whiche  I nowe  see  and 
fele  in  abusinge  the  great  goodnes  of  yor  honoure 
extended  towardes  me  dyverse  tymes  in  callinge 
upon  mee  to  looke  warelie  and  carefullie  to  my 
chardge,  office  and  servauntes,  all  whiche  con- 
siderations advertisementes  and  good  wareninges 
mought  have  sufficed  enoughe  and  to  to  well,  if  I 


*r/ie  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


99 


myserable  wretche  had  not  been  to  to  forgetfull, 
lewde  and  neglygent.  And  lastelie  when  T con- 
sider that  I stande  bounde  unto  Sr  Percivall  Harte, 
Knight,  gentleman  Hussher  of  the  Receipt  and 
Starchamber  in  the  some  of  500^  to  save  him 
harmeles  ageinst  the  queenes  highnes  for  his  said 
offices  (unles  I maye  taste  the  compassion  of  my 
said  good  lord  threasurer’s  helpe  and  your  honours) 

I certeynely  know  and  shall  assuredly  feele  the 
utter  destruction  of  mee  and  myne  in  this  world 
for  euer.  But  alas  why  doe  I thus  longe  trouble 
your  honoure  whereas  I ought  rather  go  too  the 
matter,  namelie  where  how  and  when  I withe 
my  evell  servauntes  haue  bestowed  our  selfes  ; 
from  Friday  firste  mentioned  untill  the  Mondaye 
then  next  following,  at  whiche  tyme  about  ix 
of  the  clocke  the  same  mysfortune  was  first 
espied. 

For  true  declaration  wherof  it  may  please  your 
honour  to  understand  that  the  same  Frydaye  in  the 
afternoone  I withe  other  the  hed  boroughes  of  West- 
minster did  attend  on  Mr  Hodgeson  for  the  survey 
of  the  commen  sewer  of  Westminster  by  comande- 
ment  of  my  said  good  L.  Treasurer.  In  the  same 
present  tyme  I sent  Wm  Marshall  to  Mr  Taillor 
withe  a byll  obligary  for  xu  to  be  repayed  at  the 
feast  of  Pentycost  next,  whiche  money  the  same 
Marshall  brought  me  about  vj  of  the  clocke  at 
night.  And  for  by  cause  my  other  ij  servauntes 

7—2 


IOO 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


were  appoyncted  to  receyve  the  holly  comunyon 
on  the  morrowe,  being  Satterday  and  Easter  even^ 
withe  my  ij  mayd  servauntes,  I commaunded  theym 
to  prepare  theym  selfes,  their  clothes  and  neces- 
saries for  the  worthy  and  decent  receyving  of  the 
same  ; so  that  during  that  tyme  I requered  of 
theym  no  manyer  attendaunce  nor  service.  The 
next  day  being  Satterdaye  they  and  my  said  mayd 
servauntes  did  receyve  the  same  holly  communyon, 
whiche  done  they  came  home  and  dyned  wl  me  at 
myne  owne  table,  and  after  dynner  walked  abrode 
till  evening  prayer  tyme  where  they  abode  in  the 
churche  dureing  the  same,  which  finisshed  they 
went  into  Westminster  Hall  and  there  played 
secretlye  by  the  space  of  one  houre  or  thereabout, 

I and  my  wief  standinge  by  and  beholding  the 
same.  And  then  the  night  approaching  I com- 
anded  theym  to  leave  of  their  playe  and  to  shutt 
and  barre  and  locke  the  dores  of  the  Receipt : and 
broughte  the  kaies  into  my  chamber  and  hanged 
theym  upon  the  nayle  dryven  into  a post  fast  by 
my  beddeside,  where  they  remayned  till  the  mor- 
rowe being  Easter  daye  and  about  vij  of  the 
clocke  Willm  Marshall  tooke  the  same  bunches  of 
kayes  sayeing,  ‘ Sir,  I will  looke  into  the  Receipt 
to  se  if  all  thinges  bee  well/  and  retorning  brought 
the  same  kayes  and  placed  theym  as  before  uppon 
the  same  post,  sayeing  ‘ All  is  well.’  That  same 
daie  I and  my  wief  receyved  the  same  holly  com- 


The  Officers  off'  the  Exchequer 


ioi 


munion;  my  said  servauntes  attending  on  us  brought 
us  to  the  paroche  church  where  duering  dyvine 
service  I thinke  they  remayned  also,  for  at  our 
departure  from  the  said  churche  about  x of  the 
clokke  we  came  home  where  I leaving  my  wief 
and  mayd  servauntes  I and  my  men  servauntes 
went  ageyn  to  the  Col  ledge  and  parisshe  churche 
where  also  we  contynewed  till  xj  of  the  clokke. 
At  which  houre  we  tooke  our  dynner  accompanyed 
with  iij  or  iiijor  poure  old  women,  the  whiche 
receyved  the  same  day  also.  In  the  afternoone  of 
the  same  daye,  ymediatly  after  dynner,  I with  my 
wief  and  my  mother,  my  doughter  and  Edmund 
Gilbert,  went  into  Sc  Georges  Field  by  the  bote  of 
one  Roger  of  Wastminster,  waterman,  and  return- 
inge  backe  went  to  the  Churche  to  eveninge 
prayer ; whiche  fynished  I with  other  hed  boroughes 
went  into  the  vestrie  to  heare  and  ende  a matter  in 
travers  between  the  wiefes  of  Wattes  and  Wheatley 
complaynauntes,  and  the  wief  of  Darloe  defendaunt, 
whiche  wee  could  not  ende  at  that  tyme.  And 
from  thence  I went  home  to  supper  and  so  by 
daye  lyght  to  our  beddes.  The  next  morning 
being  Easter  Mondaye,  about  vj  of  the  clok  I sent 
my  servaunt  Marshall  to  Mr  Hodgson  for  the 
same  survey  according  to  his  owne  appoynetement 
made  the  Satterday  before,  whiche  survey  at  his 
first  comyng  was  not  done  ; whiche  fynisshed  he 
brought  unto  me  in  the  churche,  and  being  perused 


102 


Antiquities  of  the  Ex  cheque?*. 


over  wee  founde  the  mystakinge  of  one  some, 
wheruppon  it  was  agreed  that  Mr  John  Dodington 
& I should  in  the  afternoone  of  the  same  daye 
meete  together  at  his  house  for  the  new  wryting  of 
the  same  warrant  and  survey.  All  this  afternoone 
Marshall  attended  upon  me.  And  being  ap- 

poyncted  the  next  morninge  to  send  ageyne  for 
the  same  survey,  being  Tuysdaye,  about  vj  or  vij 
of  the  clok  in  the  morning  I sent  William  Mar- 
shall ageyn,  appoincteinge  him  to  mete  Mr  Baylief 
of  Westminster,  Mr  Dodd  and  my  self  at  the  iij 
Cranes  in  the  Vintrie.  In  the  meane  tyme  we 
lerned  that  my  lord  threasurer  and  my  lord  of 
Leicester  should  dyne  at  M1'  Clarencieulx,  wher  in 
the  said  after  noone  we  wayted  on  his  lordship 
from  whome  wee  receyved  order  to  bring  the 
Surveiour  unto  his  lordshippe,  during  which  fore- 
none  Edmond  and  William  wayted  on  mee,  but  in 
the  after  noone  Wm  Marshall  wayted  on  me  alone 
and  Edmund  and  Gilbert  remayned  at  my  house 
at  the  Receipt.  The  same  Tuisdaye,  at  night, 
William  Marshall  desired  leave  of  me  to  lye  that 
night  at  his  owne  house  in  Longdiche.  The  next 
morning  being  Wensdaye  the  same  William  cam 
about  vij  of  the  clock  into  my  bedchamber  saye- 
ing,  Sir  I will  goe  see  if  all  things  be  in  safetie  and 
well  in  the  Receipt,  taking  the  ij  bonches  of  Kaies 
withe  him.  And,  as  he  sayed,  founde  all  thinges 
well  ; wheruppon  he  retorninge  withe  the  same 


' The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  103 

Kaies  hanged  theym  uppon  the  same  nayle  nighe 
my  said  bedside.  In  the  meane  while  I comanded 
him  to  dresse  and  bring  myne  apparell  that  I 
mought  rise  and  go  to  the  churche  being  our  Lady 
daye,  whiche  thing  he  did  accordingly;  duering 
whiche  tyme  my  other  men  servauntes  made  theym 
redye  to  wayte  on  me  to  the  churche,  about  viij  of 
the  clokke,  where  I remay ned  sitting  withe  Mr  Bil- 
lesby  till  about  ix  or  neare  x of  the  clokk,  at 
whiche  tyme  Mr  Hogeson  came  and  requested  the 
openyning  of  the  Receipt  dores,  whiche  were 
opened  unto  him,  sayeing  to  William  ‘ Have  you 
not  a bolt  to  this  dore  ’ who  answered,  ‘ No/ 
‘ Give  me  then  ye  kayes  and  I and  my  man  Piers 
wilbe  occupied  her  this  houre/  But  as  sone  as  he 
came  to  the  toppe  of  the  Tellinge  Lofte  he  spied 
duste  in  Mr  Freakes  office,  and  going  a litle 
furder  towardes  his  owne  office,  spiede  his  owne 
chiste  to  be  spoyld  and  broken  and  a great  hole 
over  Mr  Freakes  office,  whiche  so  amased  him  that 
he  came  runnyng  downe  the  Tellinge  loft  stares 
and  sent  his  man  to  the  churche  for  me  in  all  the 
haste  ; and  sent  also  for  Mr  Petre,  untell  whose 
comyng  he  wold  not  approche  nere  his  said  cheste. 
Thys  if  it  may  please  yor  honour  is  the  whole 
some  of  my  knowlege  towching  this  my  mysfor- 
tune  to  the  utter  undoinge  for  ever  bothe  of  me 
and  all  myne  if  my  good  lord  Treasurer  and  yor 
honour  have  not  pitie  on  me  whiche  I desire  for 


104  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Christe  Jesus  sake  who  long  preserve  yor  honoures 
in  good  healthe  wth  the  encrease  of  muche  honour. 
Written  in  the  Marshalsie,  this  xxix  of  Marche 
1573 

By  yor  most  humble  wretched 
Servaunte 

W.  Stanton. 

[To  Sr  Wa.  Mildmaye.] 

The  following  report  of  the  ceremony  of  the 
installation  of  the  lord  high  treasurer  throws 
much  light  on  the  internal  economy  of  the  Ex- 
chequer in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  It  is  printed 
here  from  the  Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer  : 
‘Monday,  the  nth  day  of  May,  1702,  the 
Right  Hon.  Sydney  Lord  Godolfin  having  had 
the  staff*  of  Lord  Treasurer  delivered  to  him  by 
Queen  Anne,  on  Sunday  the  10th  instant,  on  the 
nth  he  came,  about  the  hour  of  10  in  the  morning, 
to  the  house  of  Lord  Halifax,  the  Auditor  of  the 
Receipt  of  the  Exchequer,  where  he  was  attended 
with  many  Earls,  Barons,  Privy  Councillors,  the 
King’s  Attorney  and  Solicitor,  and  other  persons 
of  quality  ; they  being  assembled  in  the  two  great 
rooms  were  treated  with  chocolate,  etc.,  by  the 
said  Lord  Halifax.  The  proceedings  began  from 
thence  ; a great  number  of  gentlemen  in  swords 
and  coats,  pell  mell,  the  Clerks  of  the  Treasury, 
Auditors  of  the  Exchequer,  Secretaries,  Officers, 


io5 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 

etc.,  and  amongst  them  the  officers  of  the  Ex- 
chequer, having  no  gowns  (who  should  have 
marched  in  their  proper  places  if  they  had  gowns)  ; 
then  the  Usher  of  the  Exchequer  in  his  gown,  the 
Clerk  of  the  Pells,  Clerk  and  Tally-writers’  Clerk 
in  gowns,  the  Tally-cutter,  the  Deputy  Clerk  of 
the  Pells,  the  two  Deputy  Chamberlains,  the 
Marshall  of  the  Exchequer,  the  Auditors,  viz.,  the 
Lord  Halifax  on  the  right  hand  of  Mr.  Lownds, 
the  Secretary  to  the  Lord  Treasurer,  the  Lord 
Treasurer’s  Sargeant-at-Mace,  the  Lord  Treasurer  ; 
on  his  right  and  left  and  behind  several  Lords,  as 
the  Lord  President  of  the  Council,  Lord  Privy 
Seal,  etc.,  all  pell  mell.  Thus  they  proceeded 
along  the  Inner  Court  up  the  Great  Stairs  of  the 
Exchequer  in  the  corner  of  the  Palace  Yard,  by 
the  Talley  Court,  down  the  Stone  Steps  into 
Westminster  Hall,  by  the  Common  Pleas  Bar, 
where  my  Lord  Treasurer  made  his  obeisance  to 
the  Judges  of  that  Bench,  so  up  towards  the 
Chancery  Bar,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  Hall 
made  two  obeisances,  one  to  the  Lord  Keeper 
sitting  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  other  to  the 
Court  of  Queen’s  Bench,  whence  they  proceeded 
up  the  Hall  into  the  Court  of  Chancery,  the  officers 
filing  off  at  the  bottom  of  the  steps,  except  the 
Marshall  of  the  Exchequer  and  the  Sargeant-at- 
Mace,  with  the  Lords,  where  he  took  the  oaths  to 
the  Queen,  after  which  he  came  back,  with  the 


io6  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Lord  Keeper  on  his  right  hand,  and  the  said 
officers  before  him  by  the  Common  Pleas  Bar, 
where  they  both  made  their  reverences  to  the 
Judges,  so  up  the  Stone  Stairs  into  the  Exchequer. 
The  Barons  being  sat,  my  Lord  Keeper  went  into 
the  Court,  placing  himself  on  the  right  hand  of 
the  Lord  Chief  Baron  ; the  Lord  Treasurer  was 
by  the  Marshall,  and  his  own  Sargeant  conducted 
to  the  outside  of  the  Bar,  with  the  Sargeant-at- 
Mace  on  his  left,  when  my  Lord  Keeper  made  a 
neat  speech,  signifying  his  Lordship’s  great  abilities 
— that  he  had  two  offices,  that  of  Lord  High 
Treasurer  by  delivery  of  the  Staff,  and  that  of 
Treasurer  of  the  Exchequer  by  Patent  ; after 
which  my  Lord’s  Patent  was  read  by  one  of  the 
Clerks  of  the  King’s  Remembrancer’s  Office, 
Then  his  Lordship  was  conducted  into  the  Court, 
where  was  a cushion  provided,  on  which  he  knelt 
whilst  the  oaths  of  his  respective  officers  were 
administered  to  him  by  the  Lord  Keeper.  After 
which  he  was  conducted  to  his  place  on  the  left  of 
the  Lord  Keeper,  and  his  patent  delivered  to  him 
by  the  Lord  Keeper  ; which  done,  the  Lord 
Keeper  departed  the  Court,  and  the  Lord  Treasurer 
sat  to  hear  motions  some  little  time,  after  which 
he  departed  the  Court,  when  he  should  have  taken 
possession  of  the  King’s  Remembrancer’s  Office, 
Treasurer’s  Remembrancer,  Pipe,  and  other  offices 
on  that  side  of  the  Exchequer  before  he  walked 


' The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  1 07 

thence  ; but  he  was  conducted  in  the  same  order, 
accompanied  to  the  Talley  Court,  where  were 
placed  cushions  for  him  in  the  middle  thereof,  and 
two  for  the  Chamberlains  on  each  side  by  the 
Block,  the  two  Deputy  Chamberlains  in  each 
corner,  the  Lord  Halifax,  Tal ley-writer,  and  his 
Clerks  on  the  right  hand  below  the  Senior  Deputy 
Chamberlain  ; the  Deputy  Clerk  of  the  Pells,  and 
his  Clerk  below  the  Junior  Deputy  Chamberlain  ; 
then  the  Usher  of  the  Exchequer  just  within  the 
door,  and  the  Talley-cutter  without  the  Court, 
the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  on  the  Lord 
Treasurer’s  left,  several  Dukes  and  Earles  round 
the  Court,  the  Barons  of  the  Exchequer  on  the 
outside  of  the  Bar  with  the  Attorney  and  Solicitor- 
General.  When  all  were  come  in,  a Bill  was 
thrown  down  from  the  Tellers’  offices,  a Talley 
prepared,  writ  on,  struck,  and  examined  by  the 
proper  officers  ; then  his  Lordship  withdrew  thence 
after  having  had  the  great  keys  of  the  Treasury 
presented  to  him  by  the  Auditor,  and  he  delivered 
them  to  him  again  ; then  he  went  into  the 
Auditors’,  Pells’,  and  Tellers’  offices,  and  viewed 
the  cash  in  the  last  of  them,  the  Barons  of  the 
Exchequer,  Attorney  and  Solicitor,  with  the  Dukes, 
Earles,  etc.,  attending  him  to  each  office  ; after 
which  he  went  back  again  to  the  other  side  of  the 
Exchequer  to  take  possession  of  the  several  offices 
there,  which  he  should  have  done  before  he  came 


io8  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


to  the  Receipt  side,  and  after  returned  to  his 
house.' 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  we  find 
the  duties  and  the  manners  and  customs  of  the 
Exchequer  officials  still  unchanged.  They  were 
now  somewhat  given  to  political  discussions 
amongst  themselves,  and  they  were  even  con- 
tributors to  the  ministerial  press.  Naturally  they 
shone  in  the  clubs  of  the  coffee-houses,  and  they 
were  still  more  at  home  in  those  of  the  taverns  of 
the  later  Georgian  period.  In  most  cases  they 
were  the  deputies  of  the  holders  of  political  sine- 
cures. They  had  no  interest  in,  or  responsibility 
for,  their  official  work,  except  as  a means  of 
accumulating  fees,  and  they  openly  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  pursuit  of  trade  as  their  serious 
occupation. 

There  exists  a collection  of  official  and  private 
papers  for  this  period,  of  the  same  nature  as  the 
Fanshawe  correspondence,  already  described,  and 
ranging  in  date  between  1735  and  1770,  which 
give  much  curious  information  on  the  subject  of 
official  life  at  the  Exchequer,  Indeed,  the  papers 
in  question  once  belonged  to  two  generations  of 
officers,  and  contained  drafts  of  their  political  and 
poetical  effusions  (the  latter  being  mostly  designed 
for  convivial  occasions),  and  accounts  of  their 
private  speculations. 

Sometimes  these  rough  drafts  are  merged  in  the 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  109 

accounts  in  a way  that  is  rather  compromising  to 
their  former  owners.  In  one  case  an  official  writes 
to  his  departmental  chief  to  excuse  himself  from 
attendance  on  the  ground  that  he  has  been  ‘ ever 
since  ye  frost  not  able  to  get  rid  of  a painfull 
rheumatism  in  my  arm  wch  has  now  gradually 
weakened  it  . . . and  such  an  attendance  under 
my  own  present  disorders,  together  with  my  own 
dayly  sittings,  would  really  be  too  much  for  me.’ 
This  draft  contains  the  following  remarkable  en- 
dorsement : 

2 quarts  wanting. 

2 gallons  and  3 quarts  of * melted  in  each  barrel. 

Taken  out  of  both  barrels — 2 gallons,  which  filled  9 bottles 
and  a and  2 gallons  filled  2 French  ditto,  and  3 gallons 
which  filled  13  bottles  and  above  an  \ — 19  gallons  and  ^ . 

£ s.  d. 

Rum  - 1 1 2 6 

Oranges  - 1 1 6 

Sugar  - 1 1 o 

13  5 0 

9 0 

3 10  o 

In  fact,  however,  this  liberal  provision  of  wine 
and  punch  was  not  intended,  as  might  at  first 
appear,  as  a cure  for  the  rheumatism.  One  at 
least  of  these  dignified  public  servants  combined 
the  business  of  a wine-merchant  with  his  official 


* Illegible. 


t i o Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

employment,  and  the  accounts  and  memoranda 
relative  to  his  transactions  are  highly  interesting, 
and  even  instructive,  for  economic  or  statistical 
purposes.  The  officer  in  question,  and  one  of 
his  colleagues  with  whom  he  was  related,  were 
burgesses  of  a small  Essex  seaport,  doubtless  in 
connection  with  their  wine-business  ; but  their 
official  residence  was  at  Westminster,  where  Mill- 
bank  also  afforded  facilities  for  the  unshipping  of 
pipes  of  claret  and  awms  of  old  hock,  hogsheads 
of  cider,  and,  above  all,  casks  of  rum  for  the 
manufacture  of  shrub,  which  seems  to  have  been 
their  speciality.  The  extent  of  their  business  may 
be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  they  provided  three 
gross  of  quart  bottles  at  one  time. 

Two  more  documents  may  be  cited  here  in 
support  of  this  view  of  the  jovial  period  of  the 
Exchequer  in  the  last  century.  The  first  of  these 
is  a card  of  invitation  in  the  following  terms  : 

4 Mr.  Goff  and  Mr.  Pearce,  Chief  Burgesses  of 
Westminster  for  the  year  ensuing,  present  their 
Compliments  to  Abraham  Farley,  Esqr,  and  Hope 
to  have  the  Honour  of  his  Company  to  Dine  with 
them  and  the  Burgesses  at  the  King’s  Arms  Tavern, 
in  New  Palace  Yard,  to-morrow  the  1 5th  Inst.,  it 
being  the  Day  they  are  Sworn  into  their  Office. 

4 Dinner  to  be  on  Table  at  3 o’Clock. 

‘ April  14,  17 — 


The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer. 


1 1 1 


The  guest  whose  pleasant  company  was  solicited 
by  the  worthy  burgesses  on  this  occasion  was  a 
deputy  chamberlain  of  the  Exchequer,  and  a well- 
known,  though  apparently  very  convivial,  antiquary, 
since  the  next  document  under  notice  appears,  from 
external  evidence,  to  allude  to  his  promotion.  It 
is  curious  in  itself  as  indicative  of  the  social  tone 
of  the  Exchequer  officers  at  the  time,  a curious 
contrast  to  the  reliques  of  mediaeval  clerks,  such  as 
the  Hialogus  and  the  Red  Book  on  the  one  hand, 
and  to  the  dignified  and  practical  character  of  the 
Elizabethan  correspondence  on  the  other. 

‘ Remonstrance  of  the  Lower  House  of  the  Exchequer 
Feast  to  the  Upper  House. 

c Forasmuch  as  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Upper 
House  have  of  their  own  meer  motion  thought 
fit  to  call  one  of  our  Brethren  up  to  their  own 
Right  Worshipfull  House,  and  have  thereby  given 
occasion  to  very  great  Heart-burning  and  discon- 
tent amongst  us  ; the  whole  body  of  the  Lower 
House  being  justly  alarm’d  at  so  partial  and 
unprecedented  a proceeding,  highly  injurious  to 
our  Honour,  as  well  as  destructive  of  our  rights 
and  privileges,  do,  with  all  humility,  take  the 
liberty  to  remonstrate  against  such  an  extra- 
ordinary stretch  of  the  Prerogative,  and, 

‘ i st.  We  beg  leave  to  observe  that  the  said 
proceeding  is  unprecedented,  and  utterly  contrary 


I 12 


Antiquities  of  the  'Exchequer . 


to  ancient  usage,  there  never  having  been  an 
instance  of  a person  thus  called  up,  but  where  he 
happened  to  be  distinguished  wth  the  Honourable 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  City  and 
Liberty  of  Westminster. 

‘ 2dly.  That  it  deprives  the  Lower  House  of  a 
most  facetious  and  witty  Member,  which  is  greatly 
detrimental  to  Us,  and  can  be  of  little  advantage 
to  the  Upper  House,  wch  so  notoriously  abounds 
with  men  of  Wit  and  Humour. 

4 3rdly.  That  it  robs  us  of  the  almost  only 
wealthy  member  of  our  body.  And  here  we 
must  crave  leave  to  represent  that  tho’  we  have 
peaceably  and  wth  a becoming  Resignation  sub- 
mitted to  the  ordinary  endeavours  which  have 
been  used  that  there  might  not  be  a wealthy  person 
among  Us,  yet  in  Duty  to  the  Upper  House  who 
may  in  consequence  be  affected  hereby,  as  well 
as  in  justice  to  ourselves,  who  are  immediately 
so  affected,  we  can  by  no  means  neglect  to  warn 
them  of  the  fatal  effects  which  we  dread  from  such 
an  extraordinary  step. 

4 4thly.  That  some  of  our  body  have  absented 
from  the  Feast  for  several  years  past,  on  Account 
(as  there  is  Cause  to  suspect)  of  ill  Usage  from 
particular  Members  of  the  other  House,  who  in 
Despite  to  them,  have  lived  to  a very  unreason- 
able Age,  and  we  have  great  reason  to  apprehend 
that  many  others  will  withdraw  themselves  on 


"The  Officers  of  the  Exchequer.  1 1 3 

this  occasion  to  the  Utter  Ruin  and  Depopulation 
of  the  Lower  House. 

‘ 5thly.  That  if  this  shou’d  be  the  Consequence 
(as  seems  to  Us  unavoidable)  we  shall  be  thereby 
render’d  incapable  of  supporting  the  necessary 
expence  of  Our  Meetings,  which  will  deprive  the 
Upper  House  of  that  homage  wch  we  at  every 
such  time  so  cheerfully  pay  them,  unless  they 
shou’d  please  of  their  wonted  generosity  to  bestow 
upon  us  the  Charity  that  has  hitherto  been  so 
constantly  apply’d  to  the  putting  poor  Children 
out  Apprentices.  We  entreat  your  Permission, 
Most  Grave  Chiefs,  to  offer  this  our  Humble 
Remonstrance  to  your  serious  Consideration,  not 
doubting  but  you  will  of  your  profound  Depth, 
very  weighty  Judgment  and  unsearchable  Wisdom 
provide  for  the  safety  and  emolument  of  your 
Faithful  Vassals.’ 

Abraham  Farley  was  the  last  Exchequer  official 
of  the  old  school  whose  name  and  occupations 
are  entered  in  the  Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer, 
the  second  of  the  two  great  precedent  books  of 
that  ancient  court.  A transition  period  follows, 
characterized  by  reforms  in  its  establishment  and 
procedure,  which  culminated  in  the  sweeping  changes 
of  the  first  years  of  the  reign  of  William  IV. 


8 


CHAPTER  V, 


THE  CHESS-GAME 


N the  morrow  of  the  Close  of  Easter,  or  on 


that  of  the  Feast  of  St.  Michael  (the  open- 
ing days  of  the  working  terms  of  the  always  short 
official  year),  the  business  of  the  Exchequer  was  in 
full  operation. 

If  any  modern  could  have  peered  through  the 
woollen  hangings  or  the  flaxen  drapery  of  the 
mullioned  windows,  into  the  great  chamber  where 
the  barons  sat  as  arbiters  of  the  mimic  warfare 
between  treasurer  and  accountant,  the  strange 
sight  would  have  been  presented  to  his  eyes  of 
a score  or  so  of  grave  and  reverend  officials,  for 
the  most  part  ecclesiastics,  seated  on  low  benches, 
round  what  might  at  first  sight  appear  to  be  a 
billiard-table,  with  a dark  cloth  curiously  pat- 
terned. In  this  last  object  he  would  have  recog- 
nised the  famous  Exchequer-table,  which  has 
given  its  name  both  to  the  apartment  and  to  the 
revenue,  much  as  the  decorated  ceiling  of  another 


1 The  Chess-Game. 


ii5 

chamber  is  supposed  to  have  suggested  the  name 
for  a later  tribunal — the  Star  Chamber. 

The  central  object  of  the  chamber,  then,  was  a 
table  ten  feet  long  by  five  in  width,  bordered  by 
a ledge  four  inches  high  and  covered  with  dark 
russet  cloth,  divided  into  squares  by  intersecting 
lines,  probably  marked  out  with  chalk,  forming 
columns  and  spaces  of  account,  within  each  of 


Fig.  19.  — The  Chess-board  with  the  Pieces  ‘set.’ 


which  a sum  deposited  had  a certain  numerical 
value  according  to  its  position  towards  the  left 
hand  of  the  reckoner,  the  column  furthest  to  the 
right  being  for  pence,  the  next  shillings,  the  next 
pounds,  and  the  remaining  spaces  scores,  hundreds, 
and  thousands  of  pounds  respectively. 

Around  this  chess-board  sat  the  officials  and 
their  subordinates.  At  the  head  of  the  board,  in 
the  middle,  the  president  or  justiciar.  To  his 

8—2 


1 1 6 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


left  the  chancellor,  by  virtue  of  his  office.  Beside 
him  the  constable,  next  the  two  chamberlains, 
according  to  seniority,  and  last  of  this  bench  the 
marshal. 

On  the  second  bench,  along  the  left  side  of  the 
table,  sat  first  the  clerk  of  the  chamberlains,  with 
the  counterparts  of  the  tallies  ready  for  use. 
Below  him  a few  subordinates,  and  such  courtiers 
as  might  attend  by  the  king’s  wish.  At  about 
half-way  down  the  table’s  length  sat  the  calcu- 
lator, and  at  the  end  of  the  bench  the  clerk  of  the 
rolls. 

On  the  third  bench  to  the  president’s  right  sat 
usually  the  treasurer,  below  him  his  scribe  with 
the  great  roll  ; next  the  latter  the  chancellor’s 
scribe  with  the  counterpart  of  the  great  roll,  and 
at  his  elbow  the  chancellor’s  clerk,  or  his  deputy. 

The  fourth  bench  was  usually  reserved  for 
accountants  and  their  suites,  who  thus  faced  the 
president.  On  settles  round  the  walls  were 
grouped  the  accountant’s  debtors  or  creditors,  as 
the  case  might  be,  armed  with  their  private 
vouchers  for  the  debts  paid  by  them  at  the 
Exchequer  through  its  officer  (in  case  the  latter 
should  attempt  to  shift  the  responsibility  for  some 
deficit  upon  them),  together  with  any  other  per- 
sons interested  in  the  proceedings. 

In  one  aspect  these  bishops,  knights  and 
chamberlains,  in  their  robes  of  scarlet  or  black. 


The  Chess-Game. 


1 17 


with  their  subordinates  grouped  round  them, 
might  be  taken  to  represent  the  greater  pieces  of 
the  game  with  their  attendant  pawns,  and  this 
resemblance  has  had  an  undoubted  share  in 
suggesting  an  allegorical  description  of  the  pro- 
ceedings. But  apart  from  this  similitude,  a more 
immediate  likeness  to  the  chess-game  was  apparent 
in  the  arrangement  of  the  board  itself. 

The  game  of  chess  at  the  Exchequer,  according 
to  its  most  approved  etymology,  is  clearly  not 
named  after  a ‘ ludus  scaccarii,’  the  game,  that  is, 
played  on  a chequered  board,  but  from  the  ‘ ludus 
scaccorum  sive  latrunculorum,’  from  schach — a 
dummy  or  counterfeit  presentation — in  the  Ger- 
man, whence,  coming  West,  it  found  its  way  into 
our  vocabulary  through  the  neo-Latin  and  official 
Norman-French,  adopting  later  still  a classical 
form. 

It  is  most  essential  to  grasp  the  significance  of 
this  origin  of  the  word  ‘ Exchequer,’  which  may, 
in  the  widest  sense,  be  interpreted  as  the  chamber 
wherein  stood  the  table  employed  for  the  ‘ ludus 
computatorum,’  or  ‘ game  of  money-counters.' 
The  form  of  this  table  having  been  already  de- 
scribed, it  remains  now  to  give  some  account  of 
the  ‘ men,’  or  counters,  which  supplied  the  material 
for  that  mimic  contest  which  was  waged  between 
the  treasurer,  with  his  staff,  and  the  sheriff,  or 
other  accountant. 


1 1 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


The  chessmen  of  the  Exchequer  game  were  in 
one  aspect  the  counters  or  dummy  coins  which,  in 
their  different  sizes,  colours,  and  combination, 
represented  the  actual  specie  coming  into,  or 
disbursed  at,  the  treasury  ; just  as  the  bishops, 
knights,  and  pawns  of  the  chess-game  proper  took 
the  place  of  actual  combatants,  having  certain 
strategic  parts  assigned  to  them,  defined  and 
limited  by  the  laws  of  the  play.  The  bullion 
actually  received,  or  which  remained  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  was  also  represented  by  a subsidiary 
set  of  chessmen,  so  to  speak  ; namely,  by  the 
tallies  which  stood  for  the  cash  payments  already 
made  upon  his  account  by  the  sheriff*,  and  by  the 
vouchers  or  receipts  which  represented  other  sums 
disbursed  by  him  on  account  of  the  crown,  together 
with  the  corresponding  warrants  or  mandates  by 
which  such  disbursements  had  been  authorized  or 
allowed  respectively,  as  the  case  might  be. 

The  tallies  proper  in  use  at  the  Exchequer  were 
a primitive  form  of  chirograph  or  indented  writing, 
recommended  by  their  superior  durability,  from 
being  composed  of  seasoned  wood  instead  of 
parchment  or  paper,  an  advantage  fully  borne  out 
by  the  perfect  condition  of  such  as  have  survived, 
on  which  every  mark  made  by  the  knife  stands 
out  as  clean  and  true  as  on  the  day  when  it 
was  cut  by  the  chamberlain’s  sergeant  more  than 
600  years  ago. 


T^he  Chess-Game . 


1x9 


These  rude  memoranda  were  indeed  invaluable 
auxiliaries  of  the  hard-worked  official  staff  of  the 
Exchequer  of  Receipt.  The  high-born  or  well-to- 
do,  yet  often  illiterate,  sheriff  of  the  crown,  who 
came  before  the  barons  with  his  profer  during 
Easter  term,  had  but  to  pay  in  his  treasure  and 
take  an  acknowledgment  in  the  shape  of  a small 
piece  of  wood  inscribed  with  a figure-writing 
intelligible  at  a glance  to  the  meanest  comprehen- 
sion. Then  when  he  returned  at  Michaelmas  to 
conclude  his  annual  account,  this  indestructible 
voucher  was  readily  forthcoming  from  his  wallet 
to  be  compared,  or  rather  matched,  with  its  official 
counterpart.  Or  the  same  process  was  continued 
lower  down  the  scale,  the  sheriff  delivering  to  the 
king’s  debtors  a tally  of  receipt  on  which  he  was 
bound  to  acquit  them  at  the  Exchequer. 

Usually,  however,  tallies  proper  were  only 
‘ struck  ’ at  the  Exchequer,  and  against  the 
principal  accountants  ; the  subsidiary  or  provincial 
‘ tallies  ’ being  indented  writings  of  receipt  such 
as  were  delivered  by  agents  of  the  crown  to  local 
producers,  whose  corn  or  cattle  had  been  ‘ bought  ’ 
or  ‘ taken  ’ for  the  king’s  use.  It  sometimes 
happened,  too,  that  tallies  came  into  the  Exchequer 
through  the  department  devoted  to  the  financial 
superintendence  of  the  Jews,  the  most  ancient 
specimens  surviving  being  of  this  nature. 

The  official  definition  of  a tally  was  as  follows  : 


I 20 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


A narrow  shaft  of  box,  willow,  hazel,  or  other 
hard  wood  was  shaped  more  or  less  square  with 
the  knife,  and  cut  to  the  length  of  eight  or  nine 
inches,  being  allowed  to  taper  somewhat  at  one 
extremity.  On  the  obverse  of  this  shaft  was  cut 
the  principal  sum  in  one  bold  notch,  and  no 
more.  Then  on  the  reverse  surface  were  cut 
the  subsidiary  numerals  of  the  sum  required  to  be 
inscribed,  with  a suitable  interval  between  each 
denomination.  Moreover,  the  notches  which  re- 
presented figures  of  greatest  value  were  always 
cut  at  the  thickest  end  of  the  shaft  ; those  of  least 
value  towards  the  thinnest  end. 

Thus  ^1,000  was  cut  in  one  deep  notch,  of 
the  width  of  a man’s  palm,  along  the  upper  side  of 
the  tally  ; ^ioo,  when  that  was  the  highest  figure 
present,  was  likewise  cut  alone  on  that  side,  but 
with  a notch  no  wider  than  a thumb-mark  ; fio 
was  cut  in  the  same  way  as  broad  as  the  little 
finger  ; and  £i  with  as  deep  a notch  as  would 
contain  a barley-corn.  Shillings  and  pence,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  either  cut  on  the  lower  side, 
when  the  above  figures  were  present,  or  they  might 
be  placed  on  either  side,  when  the  sum  was  below 
the  value  of  a pound. 

It  was  permitted,  however,  to  cut  half  of  the 
value  of  any  sum  above  one  pound  on  the  same 
side  with  a single  deep  incision,  that  is  to  say, 
without  removing  any  of  the  wood  ; or  it  might 


The  Chess-Game . 


I 2 I 


be  set  forth  at  length,  if  preferred,  on  the  other 
side. 

On  the  two  remaining  faces  of  the  shaft  was 
a superscription  setting  forth  the  object  and  nature 
of  the  tally,  and  sometimes  even  its  amount. 

A very  perfect  specimen  of  a tally  is  figured 
here  with  twelve  slanting  notches  (not  unlike  the 
teeth  of  a saw)  cut  from  right  to  left,  beginning  at 
the  bluntest  end  of  the  shaft.  Each  of  these 


Fig.  20. 


Fig.  21. 

Exchequer  Tallies. 


notches  represents  a pound,  and  they  are  followed 
on  the  reverse  side  by  the  residue  of  the  sum, 
consisting . of  4s.  4d.  The  superscription  states 
that  this  is  a tally  against  the  receiver  of  the 
royal  manor  of  Ledcombe  (Berks)  for  rent  due 
at  Lady  Day  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  Henry  III. 

It  is  possible  to  pronounce  this  to  be  the  official 
counterpart  of  the  original  tally,  because  the 
remaining  half,  handed  to  the  accountant,  would 
have  possessed  a ‘ handle/  or  undivided  base, 


122 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


since  all  tallies  were  cut  down  to  a cross  section, 
where  they  were  divided  into  two  unequal  halves, 
the  longer  one  called  the  £ stalk,’  and  the  shorter 
one  the  4 leaf.’  It  is  well  known,  of  course,  that 
when  the  accountant  presented  his  ‘ stalk,’  or 
4 counterfoil,’  at  Michaelmas,  it  was  spliced  on  to 
the  leaf  or  4 foil  ’ in  official  custody,  and  carefully 
preserved  by  the  marshal.  Though  in  the  days 
of  Richard,  Bishop  of  London,  nine  inches  was 
length  enough  to  enable  any  reasonable  account  to 
be  entered  on  a tally,  yet  in  later  times  the  size  of 
the  shafts  was  increased  in  proportion  with  the 
revenue  of  the  crown,  till  the  tally  of  the  present 
century  had  attained  the  dimensions,  and  presented 
somewhat  the  appearance,  of  one  of  the  wooden 
swords  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders. 

In  a typical  case,  therefore,  the  sheriff  who  paid 
in  advance  at  the  Receipt  of  the  Exchequer  upon 
his  account,  received  credit  for  the  same  by  a 
4 tally  ’ delivered  to  him  then  and  there,  with  the 
amount  of  his  advance  duly  recorded  upon  it. 
At  the  same  time  the  officials  kept  in  hand  the 
‘ counter-tally  ’ in  the  shape  of  a symmetrical  half 
of  the  whole  tally,  which  had  been  cleft  for  that 
purpose,  in  the  same  manner  as  a chirograph,  or 
indented  writing.  It  is  worth  notice  that  the 
technical  name  of  the  accountant’s  indenture  was 
‘ schacchia  ’ — 4 scaccus  ’ or  4 scach/  that  is  — the 
dummy  of  the  mass  of  silver  now  finally  deposited 


The  Chess -Game. 


123 


in  the  treasury,  or  consigned  to  the  Mint  if  occa- 
sion required. 

Of  course,  if  the  accountant  were  allowed  for  a 
sum  not  actually  paid  into  the  Receipt  in  specie , 
but  disbursed  instead  by  him  in  the  king’s  service, 
the  voucher  produced  by  him,  that  the  assignment 
in  point  had  really  been  concluded,  should  corre- 
spond with  the  mandate  authorizing  such  assign- 
ment, which  latter  record,  laid  up  with  the  tallies 
themselves  amongst  the  archives  of  the  marshal’s 
department,  already  represented  so  much  more 
specie,  here  supposed  only  to  exist,  and  which 
would  eventually,  through  other  channels,  find  its 
way  into  the  treasury,  or  go  to  balance  the  rolls 
of  the  issue  and  receipt  sides  of  the  revenue.  In 
fact,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  these 
dummies,  whether  counter-tallies  or  mandates  pre- 
ponderated amongst  them,  formed  the  chief  assets 
of  the  sheriff  when  he  stood  before  the  barons 
with  the  sum  of  his  reckoning  on  the  morrow  of 
St.  Michael. 

Just  as  the  tally  stood  for  money  in  this  official 
chess-game,  so  the  paper  denominations  of  pounds, 
shillings,  and  even  marks,  both  of  gold  and  silver, 
were  in  themselves  dummies  of  the  single  coin  in 
general  use  during  the  halcyon  days  of  the  Ex- 
chequer. That  coin  was  the  silver  penny,  described 
therefore,  with  equal  justice,  either  as  ‘ denarius  ’ 
or  ‘ nummus,’  and  it  was  an  obvious  convenience 


124  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


to  be  able  to  denote  its  aggregate  value  by  a single 
symbol  for  each  of  the  unwieldy  sums  that  were 
commonly  presented  upon  the  board  ; especially, 
too,  when  such  symbols  needed  only  to  be  multi- 
plied within  themselves  to  discover  the  value  of 
any  inclusive  sum. 

The  counters  in  use  at  the  Exchequer  were 
coins  of  a size  and  appearance  easily  distinguish- 
able from  current  sterling  money.  For  this 
purpose  besants,  or  the  depreciated  4 solidi  ’ of 
the  Eastern  Empire,  were  in  requisition  at  an 
early  date.  These  4 Byzantines  ’ were  frequently 
received  at  the  Exchequer  in  the  fines  paid  by  the 
alien  merchants,  and  were  sent  either  as  bullion  to 
the  Mint,  or  retained  for  use  as  counters.  Their 
intrinsic  value  for  the  latter  service  was  estimated 
in  the  early  part  of  the  thirteenth  century  as  equal 
to  is.  qd.  sterling.  Besides  these  there  was 
another  gold  counter  available,  the  4 obolus,’  which 
might  be  either  a weight  equal  to  twelve  grains, 
or  a half-noble  when  these  were  coined.  In  reality, 
however,  the  obolus  was  the  specific  half  of  some 
current  denomination,  without  itself  possessing  any 
recognised  circulation.  This  fiction  has  given 
rise  to  several  difficulties  in  the  study  of  early 
finance.  Madox,  for  instance,  confesses  him- 
self unable  to  comprehend  the  meaning  of  the 
entry  4 unam  marcam  auri  de  obolo  Musce  ’ in 
the  fine  of  a Jewish  merchant.  But  it  is  quite 


The  Chess-Game. 


I25 


clear  that  this  fine  of  some  £ 6 sterling  is 
an  equivalent  for  half  a pennyweight  or  twelve 
grains  of  musk  (that  most  costly  of  perfumes) 
bargained  for  by  the  crown,  just  as  it  accepted 
falcons,  or  hunting-dogs,  or  furs  under  special 
circumstances. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  a half-pennyweight 
might  be  recognised  at  the  Exchequer,  and  at  the 
same  time  could  be  conveniently  employed  for 
ordinary  purposes  as  a counter.  At  any  rate,  no 
‘ noble  ’ was  in  existence  at  the  date  when  the 
Dialogus  was  written,  and  that  treatise  makes 
particular  mention  of  an  ‘ obolus  auri  ’ used  as  a 
counter.  It  seems,  indeed,  that  in  the  time  of  the 
good  Bishop  Richard,  of  London,  both  a gold  and 
silver  obolus  were  used  as  official  ready-reckoners, 
the  former  standing  for  .£10 — that  is,  for  2,400 
pence — the  latter  for  10s.,  or  120  pence.  Naturally, 
the  silver  obolus,  weighing  but  twelve  grains, 
would  appear  only  half  the  size  of  the  sterling 
penny  of  twenty-four  grains,  and  would  thus 
escape  confusion  with  it,  just  as  silver-metal  coins 
of  about  half  the  size  of  a threepenny-piece  are 
often  used  as  counters  in  round-games  at  cards  ; 
and  as,  per  contra , the  use  of  the  ‘Hanover 
sovereign  ’ for  a like  purpose  once  gave  rise  to 
such  serious  abuses. 

Still  later  in  the  reign  of  Edward  II.,  besides  the 
‘ Byzantines’  already  mentioned,  we  find  Venetian 


126  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


< shillings  ’ in  chief  favour  at  the  Exchequer  as 
counters,  on  account  of  their  superior  size  and 
weight.  The  intrinsic  value  of  these  coins  was 
estimated  at  is.  6d.  sterling.  The  distinguishing 
feature  of  counters  was  therefore,  now,  an  ex- 
aggerated instead  of  a minute  size.  Let  us  sup- 
pose the  onus  of  the  accountant’s  charge  to  amount 
to  ^£199  13s.  4d.,  it  may  be  assumed  that  some 
foo  of  this  has  been  already  paid  in,  say,  in  six 
tallies,  or  allowed  for,  perhaps,  by  an  equal 
number  of  mandates.  These  tallies  and  mandates, 
as  we  have  seen,  are  so  many  dummies  marshalled 
on  the  accountant’s  side,  not  actually  placed  on  the 
board  ; but,  from  their  evidence,  the  counters  are 
arranged  in  the  requisite  numerical  combination, 
as  a counterbalance  to  the  treasurer’s  statement, 
within  the  space  nearest  to  the  computator.  When 
the  whole  sum  of  the  sheriff’s  assets  is  at  length 
exhausted,  there  is  a pause,  whilst  the  evidence  in 
his  favour  is  being  further  scrutinized  : the  tallies 
produced  by  his  servants  are  compared  with  the 
authentic  foils,  and  his  vouchers  with  the  mandates 
filed  among  the  marshal’s  county  collectanea . All 
these  proving  satisfactory,  or  satisfaction  being 
exacted  in  default,  a series  of  rapid  exchanges 
(in  chess  parlance)  follows,  or,  in  the  concise 
language  of  the  Dialogus , ‘ fit  simplex  subtractio/ 
and  the  game  is  won  and  lost,  or  left  merely 
drawn. 


The  Chess-Game. 


127 


To  explain  the  rationale  of  this  conclusion  we 
must  refer  to  the  problem  figured  at  p.  1 1 5.  In  this 
diagram  the  treasurer’s  counters  are  arranged  in  the 
upper  spaces  to  represent  a sum  of  ^374  10s.  6d., 
the  column  furthest  to  the  right  representing  pence, 
the  next  to  the  left  shillings,  the  next  pounds,  the 
next  twenties  of  pounds,  and  the  last  hundreds  of 
pounds.  In  the  same  way,  in  the  lower  spaces  the 
accountant’s  principal  assets  are  shown  in  the  usual 
combinations,  the  result  being  a deficit,  as  figured 
on  the  bottom  line,  of  ^14  17s.  4d. 

We  will  now  search  for  the  key  to  this  formid- 
able looking  cryptogram.  In  the  first  place,  we 
must  premise  that  the  system  in  question  is  a 
decimal  one.  We  were  prepared  for  this  discovery 
by  the  statement  made  in  the  Dialogus  with  refer- 
ence to  the  practice  of  placing  a counter  in  every 
tenth  place  for  intervening  units  in  the  second  and 
third  columns  or  principal  columns  of  account. 
For  odd  units  the  early  computator  would  have 
recourse  to  sterling  coins,  either  separately  or  in 
combination.  But  at  a comparatively  early  period 
it  may  be  clearly  gathered  that  counters  only  in 
combination  were  exclusively  used. 

To  begin  with  the  pence  column.  As  by  far 
the  majority  of  sums  in  the  addition  of  these 
denominations,  owing  chiefly  to  the  conventional 
quotation  of  marks,  left  a remainder  over  of  4 or 
8,  it  is  unusual  to  find  any  other  combination  of 


128  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


‘ dots  * to  express  pence  to  the  amount  of  1 1 or 
less.  These,  then,  were  figured  by  four  dots  at 
the  angles  of  a square,  and  three  dots  at  the 
points  of  a triangle,  respectively. 

The  units  above  8,  however,  might  be  figured 
on  occasion  by  dots  placed  below  the  base  of  the 
triangle,  as 


• 9 for  9 ; 


% 9 for  io  ; and 

• • 


• 0 

99 


for  II. 


Remainders  of  pence  under  8 were  easily  repre- 
sented by  an  aggregation  of  ‘ dots  ’ in  the  usual 
way,  as  exemplified  in  the  following  method  of 
figuring  numbers  from  i to  20  : 


One 

= 9 

= unit. 

Two 

= i + i. 

Three 

= 999 

= 2+1. 

or 

• t 

= 2 + 1. 

• 

Four 

= 9999 

= I + I + I 

or 

999 

9 

= 3 + 1. 

Five 

999 

99 

M 

+ 

II 

Six 

999 

99® 

= 3 + 3- 

or 

9® 

= 99 
9® 

= 2 + 2 + 2. 

Seven 

99  9 
= 999 

= 3 + 3 + !* 

The  Chess-Game . 129 


or 

• 

• • 

= 2 + 5.* 

Eight 

• 

• •• 

= 3 + 5-* 

Nine 

• 

= ••• 
a 

II 

4“ 

+ 

<-ri 

'* 

Ten 

w 

• 

= ••• 
M A 

= 5 + 5.* 

Eleven 

• 

= ••• 
• •• 

= 6+5.* 

Twelve 

• 

• • 

= 2 + IO.f 

Thirteen 

• 

• •• 

= 3 + io.t 

Fourteen 

• 

• •• 
• 

= + + 10  f 

Fifteen 

• 

= •©• 
• • 

= 3 + IO.f 

Sixteen 

• 

= ••• 
• •• 
m 

= 6 + io.f 

Seventeen 

• •• 

• •• 

A 

= 7+  IO.f 

Eighteen 

W 

• • 
• •• 

= 3 + 5 + i°4 

Nineteen 

• • 
= ••• 
• 

= 4 + 5 + 104 

* Semi-decimal  point  to  the  right  above  the  unit  line, 
f Decimal  point  to  the  left  above  the  unit  line. 

J Decimal  and  semi-decimal  points  combined  above  the 
unit  line. 


9 


130  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


It  will  be  obvious  what  an  economy  of  time  and 
labour  was  effected  by  this  simple  expedient.  In 
the  case  of  £18,  for  instance,  the  4,320  pence 
contained  therein  were  actually  pictured  on  the 
board  and  accounted  for  to  the  dullest  of  account- 
ants by  the  clearest  ocular  demonstration  ; and 
yet,  by  means  of  the  admirable  system  of  the 
Exchequer,  not  one  of  these  4,320  coins  needed 
to  be  produced,  their  existence  being  satisfactorily 
proven  by  the  comparison  of  two  little  bits  of 
notched  stick,  and  their  sum  counted,  as  it  were, 
on  the  fingers,  by  the  combination  of  five  metal 
counters  in  duplicate. 

The  reader  will  understand  that  20s.  was  figured 
in  the  third  column  as  a unit  ; and  £21,  £101, 
£1,001,  £10,001,  in  the  same  way,  in  their 
respective  columns,  also  as  units.  Given  this 
key,  the  inquiring  spirit  will  readily  be  enabled 
to  work  out  any  possible  combination  that  could 
be  presented  upon  the  Exchequer  chess-board. 

The  further  question  certainly  arises  as  to  the 
connection  of  these  later  ‘ pen  and  ink  dots  ’ with 
the  counters  of  the  early  Exchequer.  Here  we 
are  confronted  with  an  absence  of  early  instances, 
due,  no  doubt,  to  the  employment  of  actual 
counters  down  to  a comparatively  late  date. 
Therefore,  it  is  not  till  the  Tudor  period  that 
we  meet  with  the  later  system,  though  isolated 
instances  are  reported  from  records  of  the  fifteenth 


The  Chess-Game.  13  i 

century.  On  this  account,  perhaps,  there  has 
been  some  disposition  evinced  to  assign  these  ‘ pen 
and  ink  dots  ’ to  the  period  of  the  general  intro- 
duction of  Arabic  numerals,  coinciding,  perhaps, 
with  the  use  of  the  Eastern  £ abacus.’  But,  on 
the  other  hand,  we  may  suppose  that  such  sym- 
bolism by  the  way  of  picture-writing  was  practised 
amongst  most  nations  at  an  early  age  of  official 
development.  At  least,  we  know  that  this  was 
the  case  in  England,  and  the  connection  between 
the  ‘ game  of  counters  ’ played  at  the  Exchequer 
in  the  days  of  the  author  of  the  Dialogus , and  the 
later  ‘ pen  and  ink  dots  ’ of  the  fifteenth  or  six- 
teenth centuries,  is  obviously  complete  from  the 
description  of  the  treatise  in  question.  Moreover, 
both  systems  were  exclusively  used  in  the  Exche- 
quer, a fact  which  may  be  illustrated  in  a some- 
what remarkable  manner.  ‘ Pen  and  ink  dots  ’ 
sometimes  occur  amongst  the  state  papers  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  but  in  every  case  the  calculator 
has  been  found  to  be  an  official  of  the  Exchequer. 
Thus  Lord  Treasurer  Burleigh  sometimes  made 
use  of  them,  by  force  of  habit,  for  the  purpose  of 
checking  a commercial  schedule  in  his  other 
capacity  of  prime  minister.  The  latest  instance 
of  these  4 pen  and  ink  dots  ’ that  has  hitherto 
been  found  is  of  the  somewhat  abnormal  date  of 
1676  ; here  again  in  an  Exchequer  account,  and 

9—2 


132  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


carefully  preserving  the  system  described  in  1177. 
The  entry  is  as  follows: 


• • 

• 

• 

• 

• • 

• • 

• 

• 

= £4>438  i°s-  4d- 


Thus  it  may  be  safely  concluded  that  the 
system  of  reckoning  by  counters,  as  described  in 
the  Dialogus , was  consistently  preserved  down  to  a 
comparatively  modern  date — ‘ Secundum  consuetum 
cur  sum  Scaccarii , non  legibus  aritmeticis! 

And  now  the  4 game  ’ has  been  opened.  The 
treasurer  speaking  first,  slowly  and  distinctly, 


Fig.  22.  Fig.  23. 


The  Symbols  of  the  Exchequer. 


asks  his  adversary  if  he  is  ready  to  render  his 
account.  The  latter  replies  in  the  affirmative, 
and  is  immediately  challenged  upon  the  first  item  of 
his  reckoning.  Hereupon  a general  commotion 
ensues.  The  clerks  turn  the  membranes  of  their 
rolls  to  compare  the  entries  of  previous  years,  and 
the  chamberlains’  serjeants  heap  upon  the  table 


The  Chess-Game . 


J33 


rouleaux  of  silver,  counter-tallies,  and  warrants, 
representing  the  accountant’s  credit  in  the 
treasury.  Then  the  calculator,  rising  in  his 
place,  prepares  to  make  the  moves  of  the  game 
as  they  are  dictated  from  the  contents  of  the 
great  roll. 

The  sum  of  each  separate  entry  of  the  farm  of 
the  county  being  announced,  he  leans  over  and 
arranges  on  the  side  farthest  from  him  the  amount 
quoted,  in  specie  or  in  counters,  within  the 
appropriate  columns.  Next  he  sorts  out  the 
credit  before  him  into  heaps  in  the  same  columns 
below  this  dummy  treasure,  and,  when  everything 
is  complete,  subtracts  pence  from  pence,  shillings 
from  shillings,  and  pounds  from  pounds,  till  the 
corresponding  pieces  on  both  sides  are  exhausted 
by  the  exchange.  Then,  unless  the  accountant  is 
quit,  so  much  as  is  left  on  either  side  represents 
the  advantage  or  loss  of  each  respectively,  the 
deficit  being  made  good  or  the  surplus  being 
allowed,  as  it  might  befall. 

Meanwhile,  the  tallies  held  by  the  sheriff’s 
servants  have  been  carefully  compared  with  the 
foils  preserved  in  the  Exchequer,  to  guard  against 
a forgery,  or  even  a slip  of  the  knife,  and  woe 
betide  him  if  any  such  flaw  be  discovered,  for  then 
he  would  be  forthwith  handed  over  to  the  marshal 
for  safe  custody  in  the  Fleet,  unless  he  could 
fasten  the  fraud  upon  his  deputy  or  attorney. 


134  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


And  so  the  contest  is  slowly  waged,  the  piles 
of  silver,  gold,  and  metal  counters,  sticks  and 
scrolls,  being  marshalled,  advanced,  and  swept  off 
the  board,  just  as  the  pieces  or  pawns  of  the  real 
game  might  have  been  played,  till  the  account  of 
the  farm  is  concluded,  and  the  mimic  warfare 
terminates  in  a truce  between  the  parties  for 
another  six  months  at  least. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

EXCHEQUER  PROBLEMS. 

i.  The  Great  Roll . 

THE  Treasurer’s  Roll,  which  figures  in  the 
above  description  of  the  Michaelmas  audit 
of  the  sum  of  the  Sheriff’s  account,  was  that 
commonly  known  as  the  great  or  annual  roll 
of  the  Exchequer.  The  still  more  familiar  ap- 
pellation of  pipe  roll  is  a later  and  less  exact 
synonym  for  the  authoritative  enrolment  com- 
piled by  the  treasurer’s  scribe.  The  etymology 
of  the  word  ‘ pipe  ’ remains  a subject  of  dis- 
cussion to  the  present  day  among  antiquaries. 
The  name  may  have  been  applied  from  the  obvious 
resemblance  of  these  compact  rolls  to  sections  of 
a tubular  drain  or  pipe.  Again,  an  origin  can  be 
found  for  the  simile  in  the  favourite  comparison  of 
the  public  treasury  to  a reservoir,  into  which  every 
branch  of  the  revenue  flows  through  one  main 
conduit — ‘ quasi  per  ductum  (seu  pipam)  aquae  ’ — 
as  described  in  the  following  curious  notice : 


136  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


‘ 'The  Flat  for  me  of  the  Exchequer. 

‘ The  best  and  comon  received  opinion  is  that 
our  Ancestors  in  the  Institucon  of  this  Court  (for 
the  better  and  safe  conveyance  of  the  revenue  into 
his  Mates  Coffers)  tooke  their  plott  from  an  Aque- 
duct. That  as  water  is  derived  from  many 
springes  to  heades,  and  from  heades  guided  into  a 
pipe,  and  by  that  carried  into  the  Cesterne  of  a 
greate  house  or  pallace,  where  it  is  to  bee  expended 
accordinge  to  the  necessitie  and  use  of  every  office. 
Soe,  this  silver  streame,  growing  out  of  divers 
natures,  might  bee  drawne  from  its  springes,  wch 
are  the  severall  Courtes  from  whence  it  ariseth,  to 
certaine  heades,  from  thence  collected  into  one 
pipe,  and  by  that  conveyed  into  the  Cesterne,  wch 
is  his  Mates  receipte. 

‘ The  conceipt  of  this  was,  that  it  might  not 
bee  left  in  any  man’s  curtesy  to  deceive  the  Kinge. 

‘For  if  the  pipe  received  in  his  due  at  the  one 
end,  it  would  be  easilie  comptrolled,  seeing  the 
Cist  erne  joyneth  to  the  other. 

‘ Hereuppon  that  office  in  the  Exchequer,  called 
the  Pipe,  first  obteyned  and  to  this  day  holdeth  its 
name/* 

The  great  roll  being,  as  we  have  learnt,  the 
official  register  of  all  debts  of  the  crown  answer- 
able  at  the  Exchequer  (just  as  the  Domesday 
* From  a M S.  communicated  by  the  late  Mr.  Walford  Selby. 


Exchequer  Problems . 


J37 


Survey  was  the  unalterable  evidence  of  the  extent 
of  demesnes,  from  which  this  annual  revenue  of 
the  sovereign  was  mainly  derived),  a new  edition 
had  to  be  annually  prepared,  embracing  such 
alterations  as  were  necessitated  by  the  varying 
conditions  of  the  county  farms  and  the  extra- 
ordinary or  casual  revenue  estimated  for  the 
current  year. 

As  the  Exchequer  itself  was  a court  of  supreme 
jurisdiction  in  all  matters  relating  to  the  revenue 
of  the  crown,  in  which  (technically  speaking)  the 
king  was  plaintiff  and  his  debtors  defendants,  the 
greatest  care  was  exercised  from  the  earliest  times 
to  ensure  the  infallibility  of  its  decisions  upon  all 
questions  as  to  facts.  The  means  to  this  end 
were,  firstly,  the  permanent  appointment  of  a 
great  official,  the  treasurer  ; and,  secondly,  the 
committal  of  the  great  roll  and  all  its  appurten- 
ances into  his  sole  custody.  Thus  the  crown  was 
enabled  to  rely  with  almost  absolute  certainty 
upon  the  accuracy  of  its  official  instrument  in  the 
case  of  any  financial  detail  in  dispute,  from  the 
knowledge  that  every  part  of  it  was  compiled 
from  the  dictation  and  under  the  immediate 
supervision  of  an  official  who  was  also  one  of  the 
foremost  scholars  and  statesmen  of  his  day  ; for, 
as  we  have  seen,  the  scribe  of  the  great  roll  was 
seated  at  the  Exchequer  table  by  the  treasurer’s 
side,  writing  at  his  dictation  and  under  his  im- 


138  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


mediate  supervision.  Not  only  so,  but  a further 
safeguard  was  employed  by  the  crown  in  the 
designation  of  its  chancellor  to  represent  the 
equitable  jurisdiction  of  the  sovereign  at  the  Ex- 
chequer as  a foil  to  official  callousness  or  rapacity. 
This  latter  official  may  have  put  in  appearance 
only  on  certain  high  days,  but  his  watchful  clerk 
was  always  at  his  post,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
scribe  of  the  antigraph,  who  transcribed  faithfully 
from  the  treasurer’s  scribe,  the  last  named  now 
working  under  the  double  check  of  his  own  chief 
and  of  the  chancellor’s  representative. 

Not  content  with  these  precautions,  an  addi- 
tional scribe  sat,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Exchequer, 
with  a third  roll,  under  the  direction  of  an  extra- 
ordinary representative  of  the  king — the  famous 
‘ Magister  Thomas  Brunus,’  a Sicilian  refugee, 
reputed  to  be  without  an  equal  in  Europe  for  his 
knowledge  of  statecraft.  He,  therefore,  attended  to 
watch  the  proceedings  on  behalf  of  the  king,  while 
his  scribe  made  notes  of  the  points  affecting  the 
royal  prerogative.  The  latter  was  present  also  at 
the  Exchequer  of  Receipt,  to  check  the  entries  of 
all  returns  and  disbursements  there  made. 

In  reality,  it  was  due  to  the  active  presence  of 
one  and  all  of  these  great  officials  at  the  Ex- 
chequer that  the  severity  of  its  financial  system 
was  acquiesced  in  by  the  nation  during  the  reigns 
of  Henry  II.  and  his  sons. 


*39 


Exchequer  Problems . 

For  the  preparation  of  the  great  roll,  the 
treasurer’s  scribe  was  required  to  provide  himself 
with  suitable  parchment  out  of  the  five  shillings 
annually  allowed  him  for  the  whole  service  of  his 
office  in  this  particular.  The  material,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  bound  to  be  of  sheep-skins,  so  selected 
for  their  superior  size  that  two  membranes  might 
suffice  for  the  length  of  each  rotulet,  while  their 
normal  width  was  to  be  fifteen  inches.  On  each 
of  these  rotulets  lines  were  ruled,  ample  space 
being  left  between  each,  and  also  between  the  top 
and  bottom  of  the  joint  membranes.  Then,  on 
the  top  line,  were  inscribed  the  names  of  the 
shires  or  bailiwicks  whose  issues  were  first  in  order 
to  be  answered,  according  to  the  groups  under 
which  they  happened  to  fall,  and  below  these  the 
first  name  of  the  group  was  boldly  written  in  the 
centre  of  the  membrane. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  following  line  the 
accountant’s  name  figured  as  rendering  an  account 
of  the  farm  of  that  shire.  Then,  at  the  end  of 
this  statement,  the  words  c In  Thesauro  ’ were  put 
and  a space  left  blank. 

On  the  next  line  were  entered  the  fixed  alms  in 
like  form.  Next,  the  fixed  disbursements  made 
by  him,  with  their  amount,  together  with  the 
lands  granted  by  the  crown  within  the  county 
proper,  were  entered  in  the  same  manner.  Lastly 
were  entered  the  casual  disbursements  made  by  the 


140  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


accountant  out  of  his  farm  in  the  king’s  service, 
as  well  as  the  necessary  expenses  incurred  by  him, 
chiefly  in  the  execution  of  his  legal  functions. 
Thus  : 

A Shire,  et  B Shire,  et  C Shire. 

A Shire. 

The  sheriff  renders  his  account  of  the  farm  of  A shire. 

In  the  Treasury. 

And  in  fixed  alms. 

And  in  fixed  tithes. 

And  in  fixed  payments. 

And  in  lands  granted. 

And  in  payments  by  the  king’s  writ  or  otherwise. 

The  whole  of  the  above  entries  may  be  classified 
thus : 

(1)  The  farm  of  the  county  which  forms  the 

accountant’s  charge. 

(2)  His  allowance  in  the  five  subsequent 

entries,  subdivisible,  as : 

(i.)  Fixed  allowances,  namely,  alms,  tithes, 
liveries,  and  lands. 

(ii.)  Casual  disbursements  (authorized  by  the 
king’s  writ). 

(iii.)  Casual  disbursements  (authorized  by  the 
custom  of  the  Exchequer). 

Below  this  statement  of  the  charge  and  allow- 
ance for  the  farm  of  the  county  was  entered  that 
relating  to  the  farm  of  purprestures  and  escheats  ; 
the  state  of  the  sheriff’s  account  herein  being 


Exchequer  Problems.  141 

specified  as  for  so  much  paid  into  the  treasury, 
and  his  quittance  or  indebtedness  thereupon,  as  the 
case  might  be,  thus  : 

Of  purprestures  and  escheats. 

The  same  sheriff  renders  his  account  of  the  farm  of  the 

purprestures  and  escheats  •.  In  the  treasury  ; and  he  is 

in  debt,  or  is  quit. 

After  this  came  the  similar  statement  for  the 
issues  of  the  royal  forests,  unless  these  were  already 
assigned  for  the  fixed  allowances  in  the  body  of 
the  county,  thus  : 

The  same  sheriff  renders  his  account  of  the  rent  of  the 
wood  of or  the  forest  of 

In  the  Treasury. 

Next  were  entered  pleas  and  conventions  of  all 
sorts  ; the  former  being  nominally  judicial  fines  or 
amerciaments,  and  the  latter  oblations,  tendered 
usually  for  a specific  purpose,  the  sheriff  answer- 
ing for  all  issues  from  the  Danegeld,  etc.,  or  from 
murders  within  the  hundred  ; and  as  to  the  rest, 
the  individuals  charged  therewith,  in  their  own 
names,  thus : 

The  same  sheriff  renders  his  account  of  the  Danegeld. 

The  same  sheriff  renders  his  account  of  a murder-fine  of 

A.  B.  renders  his  account  (or  the  same  sheriff  renders  his 
account  for  A.  B.)  of  or  for 

In  each  of  the  above  instances,  the  charge  was 
usually  answered  in  one  of  the  following  forms : 


142  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


(1)  In  the  treasury — and  he  is  quit. 

(2)  In  the  treasury — and  he  owes. 

(3)  Expended  by  the  king’s  (writ  or  custom  of  the  Ex- 
chequer). 

(4.)  Pardoned  by  the  king’s  writ. 

The  statement  of  the  sheriff's  account  usually 
concluded  with  the  entries  of  these  pleas  and  obla- 
tions, all  the  recent  items  of  which  were  con- 
solidated under  the  comprehensive  title  of 4 New 
Pleas  and  New  Conventions'  as  a distinct  head- 
ing. Moreover,  their  position  was  somewhat  an 
anomalous  one,  the  sheriff  being  responsible  only 
for  the  due  collection  of  the  sums  in  charge,  and 
each  individual  charged  being  severally  allowed, 
or  continuing  to  be  indebted  in  his  own  name. 
Hence,  these  separate  entries  are  more  fitly 
regarded  as  an  appendix  to  the  sheriff’s  personal 
account,  forming  a register  of  the  king’s  debtors 
for  whom  collectively  he  answered. 

As  soon  as  the  last  entry  of  the  assessed  or 
casual  charges  outside  the  ‘ body  ’ of  the  county 
had  been  filled  in,  and  certified  as  acquitted,  or 
otherwise,  the  sum  of  the  main  account  remained 
to  be  taken  in  the  manner  before  described — 
namely,  by  a final  test  of  the  specie  or  credits  paid 
in,  followed  by  a display  of  the  result  of  the  net 
charge,  and  corresponding  allowance,  in  counters 
upon  the  board  by  the  calculator. 

Then  a subtraction  of  the  lower  lines  of  ‘ chess- 


Exchequer  Problems.  . 


J43 


men  ’ from  the  top  line  left  the  result  manifest  to 
the  eyes  of  all  present  in  the  chamber.  If  the 
charge  and  allowance  balanced  one  another,  the 
scribe  of  the  great  roll,  turning  back  to  the  initial 
entry,  filled  in  the  blank  left  after  the  words 
‘ In  the  Treasury/  with  the  amount  paid  into  the 
treasury,  and  wrote  in  bold  characters  at  the  end 
of  this  first  charge  and  allowance,  that  is  to  say, 
below  the  allowance  for  customary  disbursements, 
the  result  as:  ‘And  he  is  quit’;  or,  if  the  pay- 
ment and  allowances  aforesaid  did  not  satisfy  the 

charge,  he  wrote  instead:  ‘And  he  is  in  debt ’ 

But  if  the  accountant  were  actually  to  the  good 
on  these  transactions,  the  entry  was  made  : ‘ And 
he  has  a surplus  of / 

In  this  latter  event,  however,  the  excess  usually 
arose  from  the  payments  to  assignees  of  the  crown 
beyond  the  amount  of  the  farm  of  the  county,  in 
which  case  no  payment  whatsoever  was  made  ‘ In 
the  Treasury/  the  form  in  question  remaining 
blank,  or  being  omitted  entirely. 

The  above  form  of  entry  of  the  various  items  of 
the  sheriff’s  charge  and  allowance,  whether  within 
or  without  the  ‘ body  ’ of  the  county,  is,  it  must 
be  remembered,  only  the  typical  one  in  use  at  the 
Exchequer  in  the  early  period.  An  examination 
of  the  rolls  will  show  that  it  varied,  at  times, 
in  many  particulars  ; but  these  variations,  on  the 
other  hand,  will  be  found  to  be  due  chiefly  to 


144  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


omissions  of  certain  of  these  normal  entries,  and  to 
be  in  the  main  unimportant. 

For  example,  an  analysis  of  the  Staffordshire 
account  in  the  great  roll  for  the  fifth  year  of 
Henry  II.  shows  as  follows  : 

STAFFORDSHIRE. 

Robert  de  Stafford  renders  his  account  for  the 
farm  of  Staffordshire,  and  pays  into  the  treasury 
/55  15s.  iod.,  blank,  in  two  tallies,  showing  that 
he  has  already  made  a profer  to  that  amount  in 
cash  at  the  Easter  Exchequer,  for  which  he  will 
now  be  allowed. 

(1)  But  he  has  also  disbursed,  recently,  in  fixed 
alms  to  the  Templars  13s.  4d. 

(2)  [Here  the  entry  for  fixed  tithes  should  have 
been  made,  but  none  such  had  been  disbursed.] 

(3)  He  has  also  disbursed  30s.  and  5d.  for  the 
livery  of  the  keeper  of  certain  of  the  king’s 
houses.  [This,  apparently,  should  have  been 
specified  as  a fixed  livery,  and  the  entry  should 
also  have  been  commenced  on  a separate  line.] 

(4)  He  also  craves  allowance  for  certain  lands 
granted  out  of  his  county,  to  the  value  of 

(5)  And  he  has  disbursed,  by  the  king’s  writ, 
for  work  executed  ^25  2s.  4d.,  and  as  a gift  to 
Geoffrey  Marmion  20  marks.  [These  entries  for 
disbursements  by  the  king’s  writ  should  have  been 


Exchequer  Problems. 


H5 


commenced  on  a separate  line,  and  at  a slight  dis- 
tance below  the  preceding  entries.] 

(6)  [Here  should  have  followed  the  entries  for 
disbursements  made  by  virtue  of  his  office,  but 
none  such  had  been  made.] 

The  above  entries  constitute  the  charge  and 
allowance  of  the  sheriff  for  the  ‘ body ’ of  his 
county,  and  at  the  close  of  this,  the  principal 
portion  of  his  account,  appears  the  certificate  of 
his  quittance.  We  have  now,  therefore,  to 
ascertain  how  this  result  was  arrived  at. 

In  the  first  place,  the  charge  of  the  farm  is 
not  specified,  either  for  this  or  any  preceding 
year.  We  know,  however,  that  the  sheriff  had 
made  a profer  of  ^551 5s.  iod.,  blank;  and  we 
also  know  that  it  was  usual  to  pay  in  about  half 
the  total  amount  of  a farm  on  such  occasions  ; and 
we  are  able  to  calculate,  further,  that  the  total  of 
the  charge  amounted  to  ^11 2 7s.  nd.,  blank,  for 
this  and  the  following  year. 

Against  this,  he  is  allowed  for  1 3s.  4d.  in  fixed 
alms  ; for^i  10s.  5d.  infixed  livery  ; and  ^48  in 
lands  granted  ; and  for  ^38  9s.  in  disbursements 
by  the  king’s  writ — making  a total  allowance  of 
^88  12s.  9d.  But  he  is  not  actually  allowed 
for  ^30  of  the  ^48  for  lands  granted,  because 
William  de  Beauchamp  is  charged  with  the  same 
(and  has  been  so  charged,  we  discover,  by  the 
rolls  since  the  beginning  of  the  reign).  This 

10 


146  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


reduces  the  allowance  to  ^58  12s.  9d.,  which 
acquits  the  account.  How?  Because  this  latter 
sum  has  to  be  blanched , being  subject  to  a de- 
duction of  1 2d.  from  a sum  of  ^40  12s.  qd. 
disbursed  by  the  king’s  writs.  When  it  has  been 
blanched  the  allowance  should  correspond  nearly 
with  the  other  half  of  the  farm  already  paid  in  the 
profer,  making  two  sums  of  £55  15s.  iod.  and 
£56  12s.  id.,  which  being  allowed,  the  one  in  two 
tallies,  and  the  other  in  (supposed)  dealbated 
bullion,  added  together  will  balance  the  charge 
of^ii2  7s.  1 id.  for  the  farm  of  the  county. 

Therefore,  after  each  payment  had  been  satis- 
factorily proved,  the  calculator  would  have  ar- 
ranged on  the  side  of  the  table  opposite  to  him 
the  following  combination  in  counters,  and  below 
that  its  duplicate  (each  being  made  up  from  the 
evidence  of  the  Rotulus  Exactorius),  the  former  to 
represent  the  charge,  and  the  latter  the  allowance 
of  the  accountant.  Thus  : 


£ 

£ 

S. 

d. 

20 

• 

• 

• 

• • 

#• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• € 

• • 

• 

Exchequer  Problems. 


H7 


The  remaining  entries  are  those  for  Nova 
Placita  et  Novae  Conventiones — that  is,  pleas  and 
conventions  chargeable  since  or  outside  the  last 
account.  These,  it  will  be  seen,  are  all  acquitted 
to  the  accountant  as  his  summons  is  proceeded 
with  ; and,  except  the  last,  they  are  all  of  the 
nature  of  conventions,  namely,  voluntary  oblations 
as  opposed  to  assessed  issues  of  pleas.  The  last 
entry  is  probably  for  the  issues  of  pleas  of  the 
crown,  holden  by  Bertram  de  Verdun,  whom  we 
know  (from  later  pipe  rolls)  was  a famous  justice 
of  this  reign.  Here  the  sheriff  pays  in  three 
tallies  for  ^12,  which  he  has  delivered  into  the 
treasury  in  cash  with  his  profer.  He  claims  the 
king’s  writ  of  Perdono , laid  up  in  the  Exchequer, 
acquitting  Bertram  of  twenty  marks  more,  and  he 
is  indebted  for  Bertram  in  two  marks,  which  the 
latter  pays  himself,  and  for  which  he  is  acquitted 
in  the  roll  of  the  following  year. 

At  the  same  time  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  sheriff’s  allowance  was  also  commonly 
figured  on  the  board  by  the  several  sums  which 
went  to  make  up  the  total,  these  being  added 
together  and  then  subtracted  from  the  top  line 
of  figures,  or  charge.  It  is  also  probable  that  a 
much  larger  deduction  may  have  been  made  from 
every  item  of  the  allowance  than  has  been  here 
provided  for,  since  the  ‘ combustions  ’ of  this  and 
the  earlier  years  of  the  reign  are  no  longer  extant. 

10 — 2 


BALANCE-SHEET 


148  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


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Exchequer  Problems . 


149 


2.  Phe  Summonses  of  the  Exchequer. 

In  the  Exchequer  chamber  were  assembled,  at 
the  opening  of  the  two  great  sessions  of  the  fiscal 
year,  both  parties  interested  in  the  audit  of  the 
revenues  of  the  crown  ; one  (as  it  were)  on  the 
Bench,  the  other  at  the  Bar.  That  is  to  say,  the 
periodical  summons  served  upon  the  sheriffs  and 
debtors,  at  large,  of  the  crown  equally  occasioned 
the  meeting  of  the  Barons  for  the  despatch  of  the 
business  in  hand.  The  summons  of  the  ac- 
countants to  answer  for  the  issues  of  the  king’s 
farms,  debts,  and  casual  revenue  was  thus  the  only 
motive  for  the  session  of  the  Exchequer,  and  the 
sole  legal  occasion  for  the  same  in  early  times. 
Hence  we  may  account  for  the  circumstance  that 
only  two  sessions  of  the  court  were  holden — 
namely,  for  the  terms  of  Easter  and  Michaelmas 
— the  two  ‘ Exchequers/  as,  in  fact,  they  were 
called,  of  those  respective  dates.  But  in  the  inter- 
vening vocations,  the  official  staff  was  not  idle,  being 
engaged  in  the  arduous  work  of  preparing  the 
summonses  of  the  sheriffs  to  the  forthcoming 
‘ Exchequer.’ 

For  this  purpose,  the  great  roll  was  consulted 
by  the  treasurer,  or  by  his  clerk  for  him,  who 
extracted  therefrom,  on  the  model  of  the  entries 
of  the  preceding  year,  the  charge  of  each  ac- 
countant for  the  current  financial  period.  These 


150  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


headings,  when  taxed  by  the  Barons,  were  en- 
grossed by  the  chancellor’s  clerk,  and  were  then 
ready  to  be  issued  for  service  on  the  provincial 
accountants. 

The  form  of  the  summons  was  that  of  a missive 
patent  ; on  which  account  perfect  accuracy  of 
detail  and  regularity  of  penmanship  were  essential, 
to  guard  against  evasion  or  forgery.  Thus,  no 
cancelled  or  elided  entries  were  permitted  on  the 
patent,  but  all  clerical  errors  were  cleanly  erased. 
Still  further  to  prevent  the  possibility  of  fraud,  it 
was  the  practice,  at  one  time,  to  copy  all  sum- 
monses in  duplicate,  so  that  when  the  sheriff  re- 
turned his  summons  at  Michaelmas  the  latter 
document  might  be  compared  with  the  rescript 
remaining  in  the  Exchequer,  to  make  sure  that  it 
had  not  been  tampered  with.  In  any  case,  how- 
ever, the  existence  of  the  originals,  from  which 
the  summons  was  prepared,  would  have  made  the 
destruction  or  forgery  of  the  latter  a suicidal  act 
on  the  part  of  the  sheriff ; for  from  the  authority 
of  Exchequer  records  there  was  no  appeal, 
and  any  discrepancy  in  an  accountant’s  warrants 
or  tallies  was  not  only  disallowed,  but  heavily 
punished  as  a presumptive  fraud. 

The  summons,  then,  of  the  Exchequer  was  a 
schedule  of  the  headings  of  entries  composing  the 
whole  of  the  sheriff’s  charge  for  the  current  term. 
This  was  derived  from  two  official  records  : the 


Exchequer  Problems.  1 5 1 

great  roll,  and  the  rolls  of  the  justices’  itinerant 
estreated  into  the  Exchequer.  In  the  first  place, 
the  king  sent  greeting  to  the  sheriff  by  name,  en- 
joining him,  under  certain  pains,  to  be  at  the 
Exchequer  on  the  day  specified,  and  to  have  with 
him  what  was  due  from  the  farm  of  his  county, 
or  from  the  debtors  of  the  crown,  whose  names 
were  therein  set  forth,  as  recorded  in  the  great 
roll. 

Next,  the  debts  assessed  in  the  justices’  rolls 
were  extracted  in  due  order,  and  the  summons  con- 
cluded with  a fresh  injunction  to  have  all  of  the 
above  forthcoming  in  specie,  tallies,  warrants,  and 
vouchers,  or  any  one  of  them.  The  summons 
was  then  attested  at  the  Exchequer  by  the  justiciar 
and  constable,  or  two  other  officials,  and  delivered 
to  the  marshal,  to  be  handed  over  by  him,  in  turn, 
to  the  usher,  for  service  in  each  county. 

It  was  said  that  there  were  two  sessions  of  the 
Exchequer,  each  convoked  by  a summons  of  the 
nature  described  above  ; but  it  should  be  added 
that  the  form  of  the  summons  differed  materially 
in  either  case.  At  the  Easter  sessions  not  the 
account  itself  of  the  sheriff  was  taken,  but  the 
view  of  his  account  only  ; that  is  to  say,  he  was 
summoned  for  half  of  his  farm,  and  any  other 
accessible  credits,  at  the  discretion  of  the  officials 
or  the  pressing  need  of  the  crown. 

The  method  by  which  these  profers 


were 


152  Antiquities  of  the  'Exchequer . 


allowed  to  the  accountant  may  be  gathered  from 
the  wording  of  the  second  or  greater  summons — 
namely,  that  for  the  Michaelmas  session.  He  is 
required,  as  we  have  seen,  to  have  with  him  in 
money,  tallies,  or  writs,  etc.,  all  the  items  of 
charge  specified  in  that  summons.  This  plan  of 
payment  supposes  the  existence  of  a previous 
transaction,  while  at  the  same  time  superseding  it  ; 
for,  otherwise,  the  sheriff  would  make  his  pay- 
ments at  Michaelmas  in  cash,  and  would,  more- 
over, having  already  answered  the  charge  of  the 
Easter  summons  in  like  manner,  have  no  further 
concern  on  the  score  of  the  latter  transaction.  In 
fact,  his  responsibilities  were  not  laid  aside  till  the 
whole  sum  of  his  annual  charge  was  acquitted  on 
the  following  grounds: 

Supposing  that  the  sheriff  were  summoned  for 
a view  of  his  farm  of  ^200  at  Easter,  this  would 
necessitate  a profer  to  be  made  by  him  of  £100. 
This  he  makes  accordingly  at  the  Easter  Exchequer 
in  cash  ; but  is  not  yet  acquitted  for  the  same, 
being  only  allowed  for  it  by  a tally  struck  for  that 
amount  (the  counter  or  foil  of  which  is  laid  up  at 
the  Receipt),  or  by  the  kings  writ  or  writs 
authorizing  the  disbursement  of  an  equivalent 
sum  in  the  public  service. 

The  sheriff  having  returned  home  with  this 
tally,  receives  shortly  afterwards  another  summons, 
that  for  the  Michaelmas  Exchequer,  by  which  he 


Exchequer  Problems . 153 

is  required  to  answer  the  same  sum  of  £ 200 , 
regardless  of  his  recent  proffer.  At  the  opening 
of  the  next  term  he  betakes  himself  accordingly 
before  the  Barons,  and  pays  in,  not  the  clear  £ 200 , 
but  £100  in  cash  and  the  other  ^100  in  the  tally 
(or  warrant)  before  delivered  to  him,  as  the  receipt 
for  his  profer  (or  disbursement),  thus  satisfying 
the  command  of  the  summons  for  payment  to  be 
made  ‘ in  money  or  in  tallies/  etc. 

It  was  expected  of  the  sheriff,  and  so  expressed 
in  his  summons,  that,  if  a debtor  of  the  Crown, 
for  whom  he  was  held  to  answer  in  his  account, 
had  no  lands  or  goods  in  his  bailiwick,  but  was 
known  to  have  such  in  another  county,  a mis- 
sive should  be  despatched  by  him  to  his  brother 
official  and  delivered  in  the  County  Court,  or 
some  other  public  place,  so  that  the  debtor  in 
question  might  have  no  opportunity  (through  a 
previous  intimation)  of  fraudulently  disposing  of 
his  possessions,  but  might  be  attached  then  and 
there  where  he  stood  in  court  to  find  security  for 
the  debt. 

So,  too,  it  was  always  understood  that,  if  the 
fine  or  oblation,  etc.,  of  a debtor  were  assessed  by 
the  justices  at  a lower  sum  than  should  have  been 
required  of  him,  they  were  liable  for  the  deficit, 
and  therefore  were  charged  by  name  with  all 
such  debts  of  the  crown,  in  the  first  instance,  in 
the  great  roll. 


154  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Thus  we  find  A,  the  sheriff,  answering  for  the 
pleas  of  B,  the  justice,  who  assesses  the  fine  of  C, 
the  king’s  debtor,  or  the  nominal  defendant.  Yet 
here  B is  the  immediate  bailee  for  C,  though  A 
renders  the  account  for  both. 

A remaining  point  of  procedure  to  be  noticed 
is  that  oblations,  tendered  by  individuals  in  the 
shape  of  hawks,  were  rarely  entered  in  the  Easter 
summons  of  the  sheriff,  as  it  would  have  been  a 
useless  expense  to  the  crown  to  keep  the  birds  in 
mew  during  the  moulting  period  of  the  summer 
months,  the  royal  hawking  season  extending  from 
November  till  March. 

In  order  to  comply  fully  with  the  wording  of 
the  summons,  the  personal  attendance  of  the  sheriff 
was  requisite  at  the  Exchequer.  He  was  required, 
also,  to  give  notice  by  proclamation  within  his 
bailiwick  of  the  date  and  place  of  summons,  that 
his  debtors  might  have  an  opportunity  of  watching 
his  operations.  On  the  appointed  day,  therefore, 
the  sheriff  appeared  at  the  place  where  the  Ex- 
chequer was  holden,  and  presented  himself  to  the 
president  or  treasurer.  Then,  saluting  the  Barons, 
he  withdrew,  to  put  in  a similar  appearance  each 
day  until  his  turn  arrived  for  rendering  his  account. 
In  default  of  such  appearance  he  might  be  fined 
ioos.  for  the  first  day,  ^io  for  the  second  and 
third  days,  and  on  the  fourth  was  placed  at  the 
king’s  mercy.  This  meant  that  his  goods  were 


Exchequer  Problems . 


T55 


answerable  by  distress  for  the  charge  of  his  farm 
and  debts,  and  his  own  person  liable  to  be  attached 
by  the  marshal  for  contempt. 

The  absence  of  the  sheriff  might,  however,  be 
excused  on  certain  grounds  — on  account  of 
sickness,  for  instance,  which  he  must  notify  to  the 
Barons  ; or  by  virtue  of  the  king’s  writ  in  his 
behalf  addressed  to  the  treasurer  or  Barons.  In 
the  former  case  he  might  despatch  attorneys  to 
render  the  account  in  his  stead,  provided  they 
were  qualified  by  relationship  or  rank.  In  all 
other  cases,  only  his  eldest  son  might  answer  for 
him,  except  by  the  king’s  writ.  But  in  any 
case  the  cause  of  his  absence  must  be  a valid 
one. 

3.  Ploe  Writs  of  the  Exchequer. 

. It  was  an  accepted  principle  at  the  Exchequer 
that  no  part  of  the  sovereign’s  treasure  might  be 
expended  or  allowed  without  the  express  sanction 
of  the  king’s  writ. 

The  former  of  these  restrictions  was  obviously 
necessary  to  guard  against  the  gravest  abuses  of 
extravagance,  or  even  of  peculation  ; and  hence  no 
moneys  passed  into  a subject’s  hands  at  the  issue 
of  the  Exchequer  without  the  authority  of  a royal 
warrant,  in  the  shape  of  a writ  of  Liberate,  for 
ordinary  purposes  tested  at  the  Exchequer,  to 
distinguish  it  from  writs  made  in  the  king’s  court 


156  Antiquities  of  the  Ex  chequer. 

— a distinction  which  was  soon  lost  sight  of. 
The  following  is  a rare  example  of  a writ  ‘ for 
the  issue  of  treasure  * of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  : 

‘ Henry,  by  the  grace  of  God,  etc.  To  R.,  his  treasurer, 
and  William  Malduit  and  Warin,  son  of  Gerold,  his  chamber- 
lains, greeting.  Deliver  out  of  my  treasure  25  marks  to  the 
Brethren  of  the  Charter  House,  being  part  of  the  50  marks 
which  I do  yearly  grant  to  them  by  my  charter. 

‘Witness,  William,  of  St.  Mary’s  Church  at  Westminster.* 

For  the  purposes  of  allowance  to  an  accountant 
the  existence  of  the  king’s  writ  was  equally 
essential,  though  here  this  might  be  expressed  in 
several  different  forms. 

Thus,  when  the  king’s  writ  was  made  out  at 
the  Exchequer  directing  the  accountant’s  acquittal 
for  any  sum  expended  by  him  in  the  public  service, 
the  scribe  always  made  a rescript  of  the  same, 
which  was  carefully  laid  up  against  the  Michaelmas 
audit.  Then,  when  the  sheriff  or  other  debtor 
of  the  crown  claimed  allowance  for  any  item  of 
his  charge,  by  producing  the  king’s  writ,  either 
directed  to  him,  or  issued  on  his  behalf,  before  that 
allowance  was  made,  the  rescript  at  the  Exchequer 
was  compared  with  the  original  to  guard  against  a 
forgery. 

But  in  most  cases  of  disbursements  by  the  ac- 
countant, by  the  king’s  writ,  a more  complicated 
process  had  to  be  gone  through.  As  stated  above, 
the  sheriff  would  claim  allowance  by  producing 


Exchequer  Problems . 


157 


the  king’s  writ  directed  to  or  made  out  for  him, 
but  the  nature  of  these  two  instruments  differed 
widely. 

The  writ  directed  to  the  accountant  by  name 
was  not  an  official,  but  an  original  writ,  tested, 
that  is,  by  the  sovereign  himself,  and  simply  com- 
manding the  sheriff  to  pay  so  much,  or  provide 
such  and  such  necessaries  ‘ for  the  king’s  use  ’ out 
of  his  farm  ; adding  at  the  close  of  the  precept, 
‘ and  it  shall  be  computed  to  you  at  the  Ex- 
chequer.’ Usually,  too,  he  was  required  in  this 
writ  to  make  the  provision  in  question  ‘ by  the 
view  ’ of  persons  mentioned  by  name  therein,  who 
were,  in  most  cases,  agents  of  the  crown,  royal 
taskers,  purveyors,  and  the  like. 

Now,  when  the  sheriff  cast  the  sum  of  his 
account  at  the  Exchequer,  he  was  not  allowed  for 
this  disbursement  or  provision  by  merely  pro- 
ducing his  precept.  He  had  first  to  prove  the 
execution  of  the  same,  and  also  that  he  had  done 
it  satisfactorily  ; for  which  purpose  his  ‘ viewers  ’ 
were  examined  before  the  Barons  on  their  oaths — 
an  early  form  of  sworn  representation  (for  these 
viewers  were  at  times  local  jurats)  for  purposes 
of  imperial  taxation  which  seems  to  have  escaped 
the  attention  of  historians. 

When  these  preliminary  proceedings  had  termin- 
ated successfully  for  the  sheriff,  he  received  his 
allowance,  not  on  his  original  precept,  but  by  a 


158  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

new  writ  tested  at  the  Exchequer,  thus  fulfilling 
the  words  of  the  royal  guarantee,  ‘ and  it  shall  be 
reckoned  with  you  at  the  Exchequer.’ 

4 The  King,  etc.,  to  William  of  Faleise,  etc.  Find  out  of 
your  farm  that  which  shall  be  necessary  by  the  view  and 
testimony  of  the  lawful  men  for  making  mews  at  Fereforde, 
and  to  repair  the  chimneys  at  Theok,  and  the  windows,  and 
it  shall  be  reckoned  with  you  at  the  Exchequer. 

4 Witness,  myself  at  Winchester,  the  vij.  day  of  May.’ 

When  allowance  had  been  thus  made  to  the 
accountant,  both  the  writs  in  question,  original 
and  official,  were  laid  up  in  the  marshal’s  county- 
bags.  If,  however,  the  transaction  were  incomplete, 
the  sheriff  was  allowed  de  tanto , and  permitted  to 
keep  the  original  for  the  time  being,  though  the 
official  writ  was  stored  up. 

Writs  of  allowance  were,  as  a rule,  of  three 
kinds,  namely,  Compuiate , Allocate , and  Perdono  ; 
which  purported  to  express  the  king’s  wishes,  as 
communicated  to  the  Barons,  with  respect  to  the 
case  before  them.  All  of  them  were  addressed 
to  the  treasurer,  or  treasurer  and  Barons  jointly, 
authorizing  allowance  or  discharge  to  be  respec- 
tively made,  and  were  tested  at  the  Exchequer 
formerly  by  two  of  the  greater  officials.  In  the 
later  period  dormant  or  permanent  writs  of  allo- 
cate, etc.,  were  often  made  out  for  an  accountant, 
and  kept  on  hand  instead  of  being  put  aside  on 
the  conclusion  of  an  isolated  transaction.  So, 


*59 


Exchequer  Problems . 

too,  partial  writs  of  alleviation  might  be  author- 
ized by  the  crown  for  a debtor  to  have  respite  or 
attermination  of  his  account  till  the  following 
term,  or  even  still  later.  These  official  writs 
were  all  made  out  at  the  Exchequer  by  the 
chancellor’s  scribe,  who  kept  the  receipts  thereof 
on  behalf  of  the  crown. 

‘ The  King,  etc.,  to  the  Barons,  etc.  Place  to  the  account 
of  John  de  Builli,  in  his  farm  of  Scarborough,  that  which  he 
has  expended  in  the  necessary  repair  of  our  houses  of  Scar- 
borough, by  the  view  and  testimony  of  the  lawful  men, 
according  to  the  custom  of  our  Exchequer. 

4 Witness,  etc.’ 

It  was  held  to  be  essential  that  all  original 
precepts  should  either  express  the  amount  of  the 
outlay  authorized,  or  that  the  satisfaction  of  the 
tenor  of  the  precept  should  be  proved  on  the  part 
of  the  accountant.  In  the  same  way  all  official 
writs  of  allowance  or  discharge  must  absolutely 
specify  the  sum  allowed  or  discharged  respectively. 
Otherwise,  the  holder  of  them  was  not  acquitted 
at  the  Exchequer. 

In  case  of  the  king’s  absence,  the  justiciar  was 
ex  officio  regent  of  the  kingdom,  and  at  such 
times  all  writs,  original  or  official,  ran  in  his 
name,  and  were  then  tested  by  him,  and  by  the 
treasurer  and  constable,  for  the  two  kinds  re- 
spectively. As  long,  however,  as  the  king  was 
in  England,  original  writs  ran  in  his  name,  and 


i 60  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


were  tested  by  him  alone  ; while  official  writs  ran 
also  in  his  name,  but  were  tested  by  the  justiciar 
and  constable,  or  two  other  of  the  greater  officials. 

4.  The  Trial  of  the  Pyx. 

The  lower  chamber  of  the  Exchequer  of  Receipt 
was  managed  by  certain  officials  who  were  both 
subordinate  and  also  subservient  to  the  greater 
officers,  that  is,  the  Barons  of  the  upper  chamber, 
or  Exchequer  of  state.  Such  were  the  treasurer’s 
clerk,  the  two  knights  of  the  chamberlains,  and 
the  usher,  who  may  be  considered  as  the  deputy 
of  the  marshal  in  the  upper  chamber.  But 
besides  these,  the  clerical  officials  of  the  staff, 
there  were  others  employed  as  experts  in  connec- 
tion with  the  necessary  manipulation  of  the 
currency  itself ; to  wit,  a knight  by  rank — who 
may  be  called  the  master  of  the  assays* — his 
working  subordinate,  the  assayer,  and  four  tellers. 

The  latter  were  solely  occupied  in  counting  the 
silver  pennies  poured  into  the  treasury  in  rouleaux 
of  ^100,  which  were  then  placed  in  bags,  sealed 
and  labelled  by  the  treasurer’s  clerk.  The  only 
test  of  the  standard  of  the  currency  applied  in  this 
numeration  was,  first,  to  mix  the  coinage  impartially, 
and  then  to  weigh  each  counted  pound  separately, 
sixpence  each  librate  being  allowed  as  the  limit  for 

* Literally,  the  ‘ knight-silverer.’ 


Exchequer  Problems . 1 6 1 

any  deficiency  in  weight,  under  which  standard  no 
receipts  were  admitted  by  tale. 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  earliest  times — pre- 
viously, that  is,  to  the  reorganization  of  the 
Exchequer  under  Henry  I. — the  revenue  of  the 
sovereign  was  answered  in  two  forms,  namely, 
in  specie  and  in  kind  ; the  former  drawn  from 
judicial  fines  and  farms  of  towns,  and  the  latter 
rendered,  at  an  arbitrary  assessment,  by  the  culti- 
vators of  the  royal  demesne.  The  ever-increasing 
needs  of  the  crown,  however,  together  with  the 
temptation  for  official  exactions,  which  was 
offered  by  an  arbitrary  tallage  in  kind,  caused 
the  latter  plan  to  be  commuted  for  by  an  assess- 
ment, in  specie  alone,  upon  each  of  the  king’s 
farms  in  demesne.  Then  all  of  these,  being  at 
length  consolidated  into  one  farm  for  each  county, 
were  entrusted  to  the  administration  of  a sheriff 
or  custos,  who  answered  for  the  same  at  the 
Exchequer,  as  well  as  for  the  judicial  issues  of 
his  bailiwick.*  At  first  this  agent  of  the  crown 
paid  in  the  revenue  of  his  county  by  tale, 
with  the  proviso  added  that  he  should  make  good 

* Thus  the  simplest  distinction  primarily  made  between 
sheriffs,  who  rendered  their  accounts  by  tale  or  in  blank, 
respectively,  was  by  taking  into  consideration  whether  the 
issues  of  courts  of  justice,  i.e.,  of  the  hundred,  etc.,  were  con- 
solidated with  the  farm  of  the  county,  or  retained  in  the 
king’s  hand.  In  the  former  case  the  payment  was  in  blank, 
in  the  latter  by  tale. 


I 


162  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


a presumed  deficiency  in  weight  on  every  counted 
pound  by  a vantage-payment  of  sixpence.  Later 
this  modest  compensation  was  found  inadequate  to 
protect  the  crown  from  loss  through  a depreciated 
standard  of  currency  ; therefore,  instead  of  making 
such  a payment  ad  scalamy  as  the  vantage-money 
system'*  was  called,  the  sheriff  was  now  required 
to  account  for  the  actual  weight  of  every  counted 
pound  paid  in  by  him — which  was  known  as  the 
payment  ad  pensum — or  to  compound  with  a 
shilling  in  the  pound  for  vantage-money  in  lieu 
thereof.  Later  still,  when  not  only  the  weight, 
but  even  the  fineness  of  the  currency,  had  begun 
to  suffer  a depreciation,  Roger,  Bishop  of  Salisbury, 
the  leading  spirit  of  Henry  I/s  financial  innova- 
tions, introduced  the  further  expedient  of  blanching 
the  farms  of  the  counties — that  is  to  say,  of  re- 
quiring them  to  be  paid  either  in  tested  bullion, 
or  in  specie  which  must  be  reduced  to  that  con- 
dition before  it  was  admitted  at  the  Exchequer. 
This  regulation  was  forthwith  carried  out,  except 
in  the  case  of  a few  counties,  privileged  chiefly  on 
account  of  the  non-existence  or  paucity  of  local 
moneyers.  Some  time,  however,  naturally  elapsed 
before  the  reform  could  be  carried  into  universal 
effect. 

* The  payment  ad  scalam  differed  from  that  by  tale,  in 
that  the  former  was  subject  in  all  cases  to  the  deduction  of 
sixpence  on  each  librate. 


Fig.  24.— Seal  of  Alphonso,  of  Castille. 


Exchequer  Problems . 165 

Thus  in  the  thirty-first  year  of  Henry  I.  we 
find  a dozen  or  so  of  the  principal  counties  ac- 
counted for  in  blank,  and  about  the  same  number 
by  weight,  with  half  that  number  by  tale.  Yet 
some,  such  as  Lincoln  and  Warwick,  are  answered 
for  both  in  blank  and  by  weight  ; others — to  wit, 
Bucks  and  Beds — in  blank  and  by  tale  ; others, 
again — for  example,  Kent — by  weight  and  tale  ; 
and  one,  Lincoln,  by  all  three  methods  of  account. 

In  the  sixth  year  of  Henry  II.,  however,  the 
system  had  become  far  more  uniform  in  favour  of 
payments  in  blank  or,  apparently,  by  its  equiva- 
lent of  scale,  when  no  other  arrangement  was 
specified,  which  represented  a uniform  deduction 
of  sixpence  from  every  pound.  In  some  few 
cases,  however,  as  in  that  of  Kent,  the  farm  was 
answered  both  in  blank  and  by  tale. 

Whenever  it  happened  that  the  treasure  paid 
into  the  Receipt  fell  below  the  standard  of  weight — 
which  deficiency  was  established  by  weighing  every 
heap  of  1,200  pence  in  a wooden  coffer,  30  pence 
being  thrown  in  to  turn  the  scale  if  necessary — or 
if  it  was  paid  in  on  account  of  a farm  liable  to  be 
blanched,  the  following  ceremony  was  performed : 
The  master  of  assays,  taking  possession  of  a coffer 
containing  44  shillings  worth  of  coin  chosen  at 
random  out  of  the  farm  paid  in  by  the  sheriff,  which 
coffer  was  first  sealed  with  the  latter’s  seal,  carried 
it  forthwith  into  the  upper  Exchequer,  and  emptied 


1 66  Antiquities  of  the  Ex  chequer. 


its  contents  on  the  table.  Then,  the  coin  being 
again  mixed  by  hand,  a pound’s  worth  of  the 
whole  was  carefully  weighed  against  a pound  weight 
of  the  realm  in  the  Exchequer  scale.  This  done, 
the  librate  was  counted  to  ascertain  whether  it  con- 
tained 240  pence.  If  the  result  of  this  scrutiny 
were  satisfactory,  the  sheriff  was  next  required  to 
proceed  to  the  assay,  prepaying  the  assayer’s  fee  of 
twopence  out  of  his  own  pocket. 

Besides  the  sheriff  and  the  master  of  assays, 
with  his  subordinates,  two  other  sheriffs,  nomi- 
nated by  the  treasurer,  were  present  at  the  cere- 
mony as  witnesses.  Together  this  party  repaired 
to  the  furnace,  whither  the  assayer  had  preceded 
them,  to  make  the  necessary  preparations.  Arrived 
there,  the  coffer  containing  the  trial  librate  was 
once  more  emptied  and  counted  afresh  by  the 
expert,  the  rest  standing  by  watching  his  opera- 
tions. When  counted,  the  coins  were  thrown  into 
the  melting-pot,  reduced  to  a liquid  mass,  and  the 
dross  skimmed  by  the  assayer  under  the  critical  gaze 
of  the  officials  and  the  sheriffs,  each  side  keen  to 
note,  on  behalf  of  its  conflicting  interests,  whether 
the  metal  were,  on  the  one  hand,  insufficiently 
purified,  or,  on  the  other,  over-refined  by  the 
negligence  of  the  melter.  But,  as  a rule,  the 
expert  caught  the  pot  from  the  charcoal  at  the 
exact  juncture  prescribed  by  the  rules  of  his  art, 
and  emptied  its  contents  into  a vessel,  which  was 


Exchequer  Problems . 


167 


then  carried  by  the  master  of  assays,  accompanied 
by  the  rest  of  the  party,  before  the  Barons.  If, 
however,  the  expert  declared  the  assay  to  have 
failed,  or  if  the  experiment  were  challenged  by 
either  party,  the  whole  ceremony  was  gone  through 
again,  with  another  librate  out  of  the  surplus 
store,  the  assayer,  however,  receiving  no  fresh  fee 
in  this  case. 

In  the  upper  chamber  of  state  the  silver  bullion 
resulting  from  the  assay  was  weighed  in  the  scale 
against  the  standard  pound,  and  the  loss  by  the 
fire  made  up  by  the  sheriff  throwing  in  sufficient 
pence  out  of  the  surplus  in  the  pyx  to  turn  the 
scale.  Thereupon  the  refined  librate  was  put 
aside,  endorsed  with  the  name  of  the  county  to 
which  it  appertained,  together  with  a certificate  of 
the  number  of  pence  which  had  been  required  to 
make  up  the  loss  by  the  assay,  whereby  it  was 
established  how  many  pence  were  to  be  deducted 
from  every  pound  which  the  farm  contained  before 
it  could  be  allowed  as  4 blanched  ’ — a deduction 
amounting  on  an  average  to  five  per  cent . on  the 
whole  sum  paid  in,  whether  in  cash  or  tallies. 

5.  Foreign  Accounts. 

The  great  roll  continued  to  be  made  up  in  the 
same  form  until  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Henry  III. 
Even  in  the  earliest  surviving  specimens  it  can  be 
seen  that  this  formula  involved  much  repetition, 


1 68  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


more  especially  in  respect  of  individual  debts  of 
which  there  was  little  chance  of  payment.  These 
tedious  repetitions  have  also  proved  a fruitful 
source  of  confusion  to  later  students,  as  will  be 
evident  from  the  following  instance  : In  the  Pipe 
Roll  of  the  fifth  year  of  Henry  II.  there  occurs, 
under  the  county  of  Cambridge,  the  entry,  ‘ The 
sheriff  renders  account  of  2 marks  for  Fugelmera.’ 
The  same  entry  recurs  in  most  of  the  year  rolls 
throughout  this  reign.  In  the  ninth  year,  how- 
ever, one  mark  was  paid  off.  Somewhat  later 
another  half- mark  was  paid,  but  the  remainder 
was  still  charged  as  a forlorn  hope  till  nearly  the 
end  of  the  reign,  when  the  entry  at  last  disappears. 
But  the  worst  was  this,  that  the  scribe  occasionally 
varied  the  monotony  of  the  repeated  entry  by  a 
change  of  form,  which  made  it  appear  at  one  time 
as  though  it  were  a place  under  notice,  at  another 
as  a person,  and  yet  again  as  a local  tax  or  custom, 
under  all  which  heads  it  was  indexed  in  turn. 
Some  persons  even  thought  that  this  was  the  name 
of  a Saxon  lady.  It  is  clear,  however,  that  Foul- 
mire,  in  Cambridgeshire,  is  meant,  which  escheated 
to  the  crown  in  1158,  with  other  possessions  of 
Earl  Conan  of  Brittany. 

In  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  Henry  III.  steps 
were  taken  to  reform  this  troublesome  procedure 
by  means  of  a distinction  between  good  and  bad 
debts,  and  in  the  twelfth  year  of  Edward  I.  a new 


Exchequer  Problems . 


169 


method  of  entry  was  established,  by  which  the 
sheriff’s  farms  were  to  be  entered  in  a separate 
roll  (just  as  they  were  formerly  set  out  in  the 
great  Exactory  Roll  under  Henry  II.,  no  specimen 
of  which  is  known  to  have  survived),  and  the  bad 
debts  in  the  same  way  in  another  roll.  Hence- 
forth the  sums  mentioned  therein  were  to  be 
collected  by  the  sheriff  as  he  was  best  able,  and 
were  not  to  be  entered  in  the  great  roll  until 
they  were  paid.  As,  however,  a large  proportion 
of  these  bad  debts  was  made  up  of  ‘ dead  farms,’ 
both  items  came  to  be  written  in  the  same  roll, 
which  was  called  Exannual  Roll. 

But  long  before  the  date  of  this  important  inno- 
vation it  had  been  found  impossible  to  find  space 
for  the  rapidly  increasing  casual  revenue  of  the 
crown  in  the  Pipe  Roll  itself.  It  had,  indeed, 
from  the  first  been  usual  to  enter  in  the  great 
roll  only  the  total  allowance  demanded  by  an 
accountant  for  necessary  or  authorized  disburse- 
ments, the  details  of  his  account  being  contained 
in  a ‘ roll  of  particulars,’  which  was  carefully  pre- 
served for  further  examination.  In  the  same  way 
the  details  of  the  sums  collected  by  such  revenue 
officers  as  Customers  and  others  were  also  rendered 
separately  in  the  form  of  ledgers  or  rolls  of 
particulars,  and  the  totals  only  were  entered  in 
the  great  roll.  In  course  of  time  all  the  rapidly- 
increasing  revenue  derived  from  extraordinary 


170  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


sources,  such  as  the  Customs,  were  now  accounted 
for  in  supplementary  rolls,  constituting,  in  fact,  a 
separate  return.  These  were  called  the  foreign 
accounts,  which  comprised  a great  variety  of 
subjects. 

The  summonses  of  the  sheriffs  were  originally 
prepared  by  the  chancellor’s  representative  at  the 
Exchequer,  and  all  other  processes  for  levying  the 
king’s  debts  also  issued  out  of  Chancery.  When, 
therefore,  the  Chancery  was  separated  from  the 
Exchequer,  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  the 
custom  arose  of  ‘ estreating,’  or  extracting,  all 
notices  of  debts  due  to  the  king  in  respect  of  fines 
or  grants,  etc.,  entered  on  the  Chancery  rolls, 
which  estreats  were  sent  to  the  Exchequer  in  order 
that  they  might  be  levied  from  the  debtors.  These 
Chancery  estreats  were  called  Originals , and  a 
long  series  of  Originalia  rolls  still  exists.  In  the 
earliest  period  the  king’s  justices  delivered  into  the 
Exchequer  rolls  or  lists  of  the  fines  and  amercia- 
ments levied  by  them  in  the  king’s  courts,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  a form  of  estreats,  since  they 
were  evidently  extracts  from  the  formal  records  of 
that  court.  When  the  king’s  court,  like  the 
Chancery,  became  a distinct  department  from  the 
Exchequer,  these  extracts  were  known  as  the 
foreign  estreats  in  distinction  to  the  originals 
received  from  the  Chancery.  It  is  a curious  fact 
that  this  system  of  estreating  has  prevailed  in  most 


•Seal  of  the  Golden  Bull  of  Pope  Clement  VII. 


Ex  chequer  Problems . 


l7  3 


of  the  administrative  departments  of  the  state  for 
other  than  financial  purposes,  but  with  the  same 
object — namely,  to  set  the  proper  machinery  in 
motion  for  the  furtherance  of  the  king’s  service  ; 
that  is  to  say,  whenever  distinct  departments  of 
the  state  have  been  created  for  special  purposes, 
such  as  the  Admiralty,  War  Office,  Treasury, 
Foreign  Office,  Colonial  Office,  etc.,  extracts  from 
all  despatches,  or  intelligence,  or  accounts  received 
by  the  Government  have  been  transmitted  to  de- 
partments in  order  that  the  technical  steps  might 
be  taken  for  appropriate  action. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I.,  the 
system  of  returning  the  extraordinary  or  casual 
revenue  of  the  crown  under  a separate  form  of 
account  was  still  further  developed  by  the  institu- 
tion of  the  Greenwax.  The  origin  of  this  name 
is  found  in  the  green  wax  used  in  the  composition 
of  the  seal  appended  to  the  summonses  which  were 
now  issued  for  payment  of  petty  fines  and  amercia- 
ments separately  from  the  ordinary  summonses  to 
the  sheriffs.  The  greenwax  was  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  clerk  of  the  estreats  and  of  the  king’s 
Remembrancer,  but  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  a 
surveyor-general  of  the  greenwax  was  appointed. 
It  may  be  observed  that  this,  like  most  other 
casual  sources  of  revenue,  was  frequently  oppres- 
sively enforced,  and  was  highly  unpopular. 

Provision  having  thus  been  made  for  the  collec- 


174  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


tion  of  the  extraordinary  and  casual  revenue  of  the 
crown,  no  longer  included  in  the  great  roll, 
further  steps  were  taken  for  auditing  the  same 
before  the  foreign  apposer,  who  here  took  the 
place  of  the  Chancellor's  clerk.  The  result  of  this 
audit  was  entered  in  two  separate  rolls,  one  for 
those  debts  which  were  paid,  the  other  for  those 
which  remained  unpaid,  according  as  the  entries 
were  ‘ totted  ’ or  ‘ nichilled  ’ by  the  accountant. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  MAKING  OF  THE  BUDGET. 

IT  would  probably  be  found  a very  difficult 
matter  to  compile  a table  of  the* revenue  of 
this  country,  distinguishing  between  the  several 
sources  of  income  or  profit  enjoyed  by  the  crown  in 
the  several  historical  periods  embraced  within  the 
Anglo-Saxon,  Norman,  and  Plantagenet  dynasties. 
With  the  close  of  the  Middle  Ages,  many  of  these 
sources  had  become  dry,  or  else  diverted  from 
their  proper  channels,  so  that  a revolution  in 
financial  practice  was  imminent,  and  was  eventually 
accomplished  at  the  expense  of  most  of  the  mediaeval 
theories  which  had  survived  the  civil  war  of  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  ; but  many 
fictions  lingered,  almost  to  the  beginning  of  the 
present  reign,  as  was  only  natural  when  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  national  finances  was  carried  on  by  the 
same  machinery  that  had  been  in  motion  for  over 
seven  hundred  years.  It  will  be  better,  therefore, 
to  avoid  the  common  view  of  a separate  system  of 


176  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


national  finance  for  each  of  the  above  epochs, 
more  particularly  in  the  case  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
and  Norman  periods.  The  following  table  may  be 
taken  as  fairly  representative  of  the  chief  sources 
of  the  national  revenue  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  continuity  of  each  of 
these  may  be  gathered  from  subsequent  remarks : 

I. ORDINARY  REVENUE. 

(i.)  Crown  lands. 

( a ) Royal  farms. 

( [b ) Casual  farms,  such  as  woodrents,  etc. 
(r)  Lands  in  the  king’s  hands  by  escheat, 
forfeiture,  vacancy,  etc. 

(d)  Feefarms  of  towns  and  gilds,  etc. 

(ii.)  Casual  revenue,  including  coinage,  tolls  and 
markets,  treasure-trove,  wreck,  royal 
fish,  d eodands,  waifs  and  strays,  goods 
of  felons,  usurers,  fugitives,  outlaws, 
recreants. 

(iii.)  Control  of  trade. 

(#)  Purveyance  or  pre-emption. 

(b)  Prisage. 

(r)  Customs. 

(iv.)  Issues  of  justice. 

(a)  Fines. 

(b)  Amerciaments. 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 


*77 

(v.)  Feudal  taxation. 

(a)  Aids  (the  three  accustomed). 

( h ) Tallage. 

(c)  Scutage. 

{d)  Relief,  marriage,  wardship,  etc. 

II. EXTRAORDINARY  REVENUE, 

(i.)  Danegeld. 

(ii.)  Aid  (imperial  ; the  Donum , etc.). 

(iii.)  Scutage  and  carucage  or  hidage  (imperial). 

(iv.)  Subsidy  on  land. 

(v.)  Tenths  and  fifteenths  (or  other  propor- 
tion). 

(vi.)  Subsidy  on  wools,  etc. 

The  story  of  the  Teutonic  migration  relates  that 
the  victorious  leader  of  an  invading  tribe  divided  the 
conquered  territory  between  himself  and  his  armed 
followers,  leaving  certain  tracts,  unsuited  for  im- 
mediate occupation  by  reason  of  their  wooded  or 
marshy  nature,  for  the  constitutional  requirements 
of  the  embryo  state. 

From  a very  early  date,  the  tendency  had  been 
for  the  crown  to  treat  the  public  lands  as  its  own, 
for  purposes  of  the  State  at  least.  The  sole  check 
upon  this  pretension  existed  in  the  supposed  con- 
sent of  the  Witan  to  every  alienation  of  the  pro- 
perty of  the  nation.  Somewhat  later  it  was  found 
that  this  new  claim  of  the  crown  was  neither 


178  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 

wholly  interested,  nor  in  itself  disadvantageous  to 
the  national  cause.  The  king  was  no  longer  a 
mere  tribal  leader,  responsible,  at  most,  for  the 
regulation  of  his  household,  great  and  small. 
The  national  defence,  the  establishment  of  justice, 
the  maintenance  of  law  and  order  by  a strict 
police  to  meet  the  immediate  wants  of  a new-born 
civil  society,  or  the  prospective  wants  of  a mercan- 
tile community,  were  now  his  care.  The  folk- 
lands  of  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  stripped  of 
their  fairer  members  by  the  appropriations  or 
feudal  grants  of  previous  sovereigns,  consisted 
mainly  of  forest,  moor,  and  marsh,  or  those 
narrower  tracts  of  soil,  including  highways  and 
river-beds,  which  served  as  marshes  or  boundaries 
between  sub-kingdoms,  shires,  and  hundreds. 

And  so  the  change  supposed  to  have  been  in 
progress  since  the  Battle  of  Ellandune  is  known  to 
have  been  accomplished  before  the  Conquest  by  the 
evidence  of  Domesday  Book.  Here  we  find  the 
crown  actually  in  possession  of  the  ancient  folk- 
land,  which  passes  under  the  generic  title  of  Terra 
Regis.  There  is  not  much  evidence  to  show  to 
what  extent  the  latter  benefitted  by  this  appropria- 
tion ; and  there  is  none  to  show  when  or  how  it 
took  place.  We  have  merely,  then,  to  accept 
Terra  Regis  of  Domesday  as  we  find  it,  and  to 
follow  the  constitutional  interest  connected  with 
its  enlargement  or  decrease  during  subsequent 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 


l79 


reigns.  At  first  we  are  presented  with  a steady 
increase.  The  royal  demesne  of  the  Conqueror 
must  have  been  a large  one,  judging  from  the 
entries  thereof  in  Domesday  Book , and  the  popular 
impression  expressed  by  the  chroniclers  ; and  this 
territory  was  steadily  increased  by  his  sons, 
especially  in  the  direction  of  afforestation.  For 
this  latter  encroachment  we  should  have  been 
prepared  from  our  knowledge  of  the  domestic 
policy  of  Norman  kings,  who  undertook  the 
administration  of  national  resources  for  ensuring 
law  and  order  in  return  for  a territorial  enjoyment 
and  profit  becoming  more  and  more  invidious  and 
absolute,  and  a territorial  jurisdiction  verging  upon 
tyranny,  even  as  it  is  seen  under  the  milder  rule 
of  the  first  Plantagenet.  However,  these  things 
are  as  yet  known  to  us  mostly  by  capable  con- 
jecture. 

The  next  piece  of  direct  evidence  which  follows 
Domesday  is  the  surviving  Pipe  Roll  of  Henry  I. 
Here  we  find  plentiful  mention  of  crown  lands 
granted,  sold,  or  given  in  exchange  to  vassals  and 
officials.  In  the  Pipe  Rolls  of  Henry  II.,  which 
succeed  this  isolated  record,  instances  of  such 
grants  are  found  in  still  greater  abundance,  and 
made  like  the  former  to  officials  of  the  new  school 
created  by  Henry  I.,  rather  than  on  the  principle 
of  feudal  concession  which  characterized  the  aliena- 
tions of  a weak  king  like  Stephen,  and  unpatriotic 

12 2 


1 8o  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


rulers  like  Henry  III.,  Edward  II.,  Richard  II., 
and  Henry  VI. 

Although  the  tenants  of  folk-land  under  state 
control  formed  a body  of  vassals  ready  made  at 
the  period  of  the  extension  of  the  royal  jurisdiction 
over  the  ancient  property  of  the  nation,  and  pay- 
ing, in  the  case  of  towns,  at  least,  very  substantial 
rents  in  the  shape  of  ‘ Gable  ’ money,  it  is  probable 
that,  previous  to  the  reign  of  Henry  I.,  the  purely 
agricultural  rents  of  the  crown  lands  were  mostly 
paid  in  kind,  and  that  this  inconvenient  practice 
was  only  abandoned  after  an  agitation  which 
threatened,  at  one  time,  to  become  a praedial 
war. 

Richard  Fitz-Nigel,  treasurer  of  King  Henry 
II.,  gives,  in  his  famous  treatise  on  the  Exchequer, 
the  following  graphic  account  of  this  financial 
revolution  : 

‘ In  order  that  you  may  comprehend  these  things, 
it  is  necessary  to  go  back  a little  further.  Accord- 
ing to  tradition  of  the  time  of  our  fathers,  in  the 
primitive  state  of  the  kingdom  following  the  Con- 
quest, the  kings  received  payment  for  their  farms 
not  in  weight  of  gold  or  silver,  but  in  victuals 
alone,  out  of  which  those  things  that  were 
necessary  for  the  daily  consumption  of  the  king’s 
house  used  to  be  provided.  And  they  knew — 
they  who  were  appointed  for  this  purpose — how 
much  was  forthcoming  from  every  farm.  For  the 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . . 1 8 1 


rest,  to  defray  the  pay  or  largesse  of  the  soldiers, 
and  other  necessities,  coined  money  was  provided 
from  the  pleas  and  conventions  of  the  crown,  and 
from  the  cities  or  castles  which  did  not  practise 
agriculture.  Therefore,  during  the  whole  reign 
of  King  William  I.,  and  down  to  the  time  of 
King  Henry,  his  son,  this  practice  prevailed, 
so  that  I myseJf  have  encountered  those  who  have 
seen  victuals  conveyed  to  the  court,  at  the  times 
appointed,  from  the  royal  farms,  the  officers  of 
the  king’s  house  being  exactly  informed  from 
which  counties  wheat,  and  from  which  the  several 
kinds  of  flesh,  or  the  provender  for  horses,  or  the 
other  necessaries,  were  owing.  Then,  on  payment 
being  made  of  these  things,  in  manner  appointed, 
the  royal  officers  entered  them  to  the  credit  of  the 
sheriff,  reducing  their  value  into  money — namely, 
for  a measure  of  wheat  sufficient  for  the  bread  of 
a hundred  men,  one  shilling  ; for  the  carcass  of  a 
grazing  ox,  one  shilling  ; for  a ram  or  sheep,  four- 
pence  ; for  the  provender  of  twenty  horses,  like- 
wise fourpence.  But  in  a subsequent  period,  when 
this  same  king  was  engaged  in  foreign  and  distant 
parts  in  suppressing  the  tumults  of  war,  it  became 
desirable  for  him  to  have  the  requisite  sum  for 
these  exploits  in  coined  money.  Meanwhile,  a 
clamorous  throng  of  countrymen  had  flocked  to 
the  king’s  court,  or,  which  he  took  more  griev- 
ously, even  threw  themselves  in  his  way  on  his 


1 82  Antiquities  of  the  ^Exchequer. 


progresses,  bringing  in  their  ploughshares  as  a 
token  of  the  decay  of  agriculture  ; for  they  were 
oppressed  by  hardships  unnumbered  by  reason  of 
the  victuals  which  they  used  to  convey  from  their 
own  abodes  throughout  divers  parts  of  the 
realm.  Therefore,  the  king,  giving  ear  to  their 
complaints,  by  the  deliberate  counsel  of  his  great 
men,  despatched  throughout  the  kingdom  those 
whom  he  knew  to  be  most  prudent  and  discreet 
for  that  purpose,  who,  passing  round  and  survey- 
ing each  farm,  by  the  evidence  of  their  own  eyes, 
an  estimate  being  taken  of  the  victuals  that  were 
payable  therefrom,  reduced  the  amount  to  a money 
sum.  But  for  the  total  sum  which  arose  from 
all  the  farms  in  one  county,  they  appointed  the 
sheriff  of  that  county  to  be  answerable  at  the 
Exchequer. 

The  same  author  tells  us  in  another  place  that 
he  had  also  conversed  with  old  men  who  had 
witnessed  the  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  the  heavily- 
laden  wains  with  which  every  road  was  choked  in 
the  environs  of  the  court  on]  the  eve  of  a great 
festival  or  foreign  expedition. 

It  is  probable  that  the  crown  lands,  like  the 
French  possessions  of  this  country,  reached  their 
greatest  extent  in  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  From 
this  point,  therefore,  we  are  engaged  in  noting 
their  steady  decline,  in  spite  of  certain  arbitrary, 

* Dialog  us,  i.  7. 


1 The  Making  of  the  Budget . 183 

even  desperate,  attempts  to  expiate  the  evils  of 
voluntary  or  forced  alienations. 

From  the  very  first  we  have  seen  that  the 
acquirement  of  an  extensive  royal  demesne  by  the 
crown  was,  in  fact,  the  result  of  an  indirect 
bargain  with  the  nation.  The  king  took  over 
the  residue  of  the  folk-land,  because  he  alone  was 
qualified  by  the  possession  of  an  equivalent  terri- 
torial jurisdiction  to  undertake  their  management 
and  order.  So,  too,  with  regard  to  the  later 
revenue  which  the  crown  derived,  directly  or 
indirectly,  from  the  soil,  it  had  come  to  be  re- 
garded as  an  essential  condition  of  its  enjoyment 
that  the  king  should  ‘ live  of  his  own’ ; he  for  his 
part  undertaking  the  defence  of  the  national  inde- 
pendence, commerce,  and  interests  of  every  kind, 
from  harmful  influences,  particularly  such  as  were 
brought  about  by  the  growing  competition  of  other 
countries  — in  fact,  such  a programme  as  is  de- 
scribed in  the  words  of  Edward  I.,  ‘ ut  terra  de 
bonis  suis  se  illaesa  conservaret.’  Now,  one  of  the 
most  baneful  of  these  influences  was  favouritism, 
or  countenancing  aliens.  This  anti-English  policy 
was  truly  the  curse  of  Plantagenet  kings.  John 
and  Henry  III.  used  it  ; so  did  Edward  II., 
Edward  III.,  Richard  II.,  and  Henry  VI.  Oppo- 
sition to  this  new  freak  of  the  crown  is  the  chief 
explanation  of  popular  discontent  on  many  notable 
occasions,  and  is  easily  identified  as  the  main- 


184  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


spring  of  the  national  policy  formulated  in  1258, 
1297,  1312,  1340,  and  1386.  That  is  to  say, 
the  royal  demesne,  under  all  the  kings  above 
mentioned,  was  wantonly  alienated  for  the  benefit 
of  favourites,  and  these  the  vilest  men  in  the 
popular  view.  Stephen  had  already  set  an  example 
which  had  been  deprecated  by  the  thrift  of  his 
successor,  but  all  too  readily  followed  out  for  a 
still  worse  motive  by  Richard  I.  and  John. 
Thanks  to  a long  and  profitable  minority, 
Henry  III.  began  his  personal  government  with 
sufficient  resources  for  a constitutional  programme  ; 
but  in  his  reign  we  have  not  only  the  most  aggra- 
vated instances  of  wasteful  grants  of  royal  property 
(now,  since  Magna  Carta,  regarded  as  the  property 
of  the  nation,  when  the  nation  might  no  longer 
be  arbitrarily  taxed  in  default),  but  the  fatal 
expedient  of  forced  resumptions — the  bankrupt 
monarch’s  discharge  through  the  good  graces  of 
ministers  or  Parliament. 

Of  the  remaining  branches  of  the  crown  lands, 
woodrents  and  other  casual  profits  of  the  old 
waste  folk-lands  were  not,  from  the  evidence  of 
the  Pipe  Rolls  at  least,  of  any  special  value  during 
this  early  period.  The  case  was  very  different, 
however,  from  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century 
onwards,  though  there  is  reason  to  believe  that 
this  portion  of  the  revenue  was  very  indifferently 
administered  by  its  local  officers. 


The  Making  of  the  Budget.  185 

The  case  of  the  baronies  or  manors  which  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  crown  by  way  of  escheat 
or  forfeiture  was  widely  different.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  assert  that  from  first  to  last  few  estates 
of  importance  escaped  the  consequences  of  the 
feudal  doctrine  of  survivorship,  and  it  would  be 
probably  impossible  to  form  any  approximate 
estimate  of  the  increase  of  revenue  which  might 
have  accrued  to  the  crown  from  this  one  source. 
Unfortunately  for  themselves  and  their  heavily- 
taxed  subjects,  the  later  Plantagenet  kings 
notoriously  neglected  their  opportunities  of  ab- 
sorbing overgrown  peerages,  for  by  a strange 
fatality  those  opportunities  most  frequently  arose 
during  the  reigns  of  weak  and  improvident 
sovereigns.  Even  so  the  rent-roll  of  honours, 
bishoprics,  or  towns  ‘ in  the  king's  hand  ’ during 
the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  and  the  whole  of  the 
thirteenth  century  was  very  considerable.  As 
regards  the  remaining  source  of  revenue  under 
this  head,  namely,  that  derived  from  the  farms  of 
towns  and  gilds,  it  may  be  said  that  it  formed  a 
welcome,  though  by  no  means  ample,  contribution 
to  the  royal  treasury.  Some  cities,  such  as  London, 
paid  their  farms  regularly  down  to  recent  times, 
but  others  were  compelled  to  seek  relief  on  the 
grounds  of  natural  decay,  or  at  one  time  of  damage 
from  a foreign  invasion. 

The  casual  revenue  of  the  crown  was  a still 


1 86  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


more  uncertain  source  of  wealth.  It  was  a point 
of  honour  with  a bold  peasantry  to  simplify  the 
process  of  collecting  treasure-trove  or  wreck  of 
the  sea  or  waifs  by  leaving  nothing  to  be  collected. 
Royal  fish  (whale,  etc.),  indeed,  was  readily  pre- 
sented, probably  because  it  was  unpalatable  without 
the  resources  of  the  royal  kitchen  ; and  deodands, 
which  were  regarded  with  superstitious  abhorrence, 
being  worth,  moreover,  some  few  pence  only  in 
most  cases,  were  promptly  rendered  to  the  crown. 
The  monopoly  of  coinage  probably  paid  the  work- 
ing expenses  of  the  Mint,  while  the  more  valuable 
estrays  were  for  the  most  part  conceded  by  the 
crown  itself  to  local  lords.  Certainly  long  lists 
of  felons’  goods,  etc.,  appear  in  several  of  the 
Pipe  Rolls  of  the  period  ; but  the  sums  accounted 
for  were  both  trivial  and  with  difficulty  collected, 
though  the  goods  of  usurers,  whether  Jews  or 
Christians,  were  at  times  very  valuable  acquisitions. 

The  revenue  of  the  crown  from  its  control  of 
trade  was  probably  the  most  considerable  of  any 
except  the  actual  farms  of  the  crown  lands. 

In  the  primitive  idea  of  Teutonic  kingship,  the 
possession  of  an  imperial  revenue,  it  is  needless  to 
insist,  is  never  entertained.  The  princeps,  or 
dux,  attended  by  his  following  of  elders  or 
warriors,  has  an  instrument  ever  ready  to  his  hand 
for  defensive  or  offensive  action.  Whether  he  be 
a descendant  of  the  demigods,  or  the  hero  of  a 


' The  Making  of  the  Budget.  187 

momentous  crisis,  it  is  equally  obvious  to  his 
followers  that,  as  the  leader  of  their  choice,  he 
must  receive  something  more  than  moral  support 
at  their  hands.  His  is  no  paternal  government 
which,  backed  by  an  ample  Exchequer,  can  train 
and  feed  men  for  home  or  foreign  warfare.  It 
rests  on  nothing  more  than  the  influence  of  personal 
prestige,  and,  from  a worldly  point  of  view,  their 
ruler  is  no  better  than  primus  inter  pares.  But 
this  penniless  champion  is  one,  they  feel  (the 
history  of  their  race  is  an  oft-taught  lesson  to 
them),  who  can  lead  them  from  victory  to  victory, 
direct  them  to  booty  upon  booty ; who  can 
promote  them  from  a province  to  a kingdom, 
and  exalt  them  from  a clan  into  a nation.  The 
tribesman,  therefore,  fights  both  for  himself  and 
his  chief ; he  for  success  and  the  glory  which  it 
brings.  The  former  provides  the  materials  for 
the  enterprise — service  at  his  own  expense,  and 
contributions  in  kind  to  maintain  the  rude  splendour 
of  his  patron’s  state.  The  latter  stakes  the  honour 
of  his  family  upon  the  results  of  his  own  wisdom 
and  prowess.  The  fight  is  won.  The  chief 
becomes  king,  his  tribe  a kingdom.  He  becomes 
also  a great  landlord,  with  tracts  of  conquered 
territory  at  his  disposal.  These  he  distributes 
amongst  his  retainers,  whose  personal  attachment, 
now  exchanged  for  a feudal  obligation,  is  in  no 
way  lessened  by  their  altered  circumstances,  but 


1 8 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


strengthened  and  multiplied  infinitely  by  the 
possession  of  individual  power  and  patronage. 
The  king  is  now  no  longer  a simple  patriarch, 
but  a dread  liege,  a sovereign  by  Divine  right  and 
human  force.  He  is  rich  above  his  vassals  ; can 
play  the  potentate,  or  the  patron,  at  his  good 
pleasure.  But  with  power  comes  either  the  sense 
of  its  insecurity,  or  the  fresh  lust  of  conquest. 

For  now  the  kingdom  is  pitted  against  rival 
kingdoms  ; the  onslaught  grows  to  an  invasion  ; 
the  battle  is  lengthened  into  a campaign.  The 
direction  of  the  ruler  becomes  more  necessary, 
his  requirements  more  pressing.  He  must  have 
more  steeds,  more  panoplies,  more  sheep  and  oxen 
at  his  disposal.  At  last,  he  or  his  successors  lead 
their  host  to  a crowning  victory.  Rival  dynasties 
are  overthrown  ; scattered  sub -kingdoms  are 
amalgamated.  The  victor  finds  himself  upon  the 
throne  of  a great  nation.  Then  at  length  his 
kingship  begins  to  assert  itself.  He  is  not  only 
the  leader  of  his  people  in  war,  but  their  adminis- 
trator in  peace.  He  is  the  supreme  landlord,  the 
origin  of  justice,  the  patentee  of  heaven  for 
honours  and  privileges  and  emoluments  which  he 
alone  of  all  others  can  aspire  to  ; and  this  is  his 
prerogative — this  distinguishes  him  from  all  the 
rest,  and  is  his  guarantee  for  that  supremacy  which 
is  needful  to  the  trust  which  has  been  imposed 
upon  him,  the  well-being  of  his  subjects. 


"The  Making  of  tlie  Budget. 


189 


The  latter  have  dispersed  to  take  possession  of 
their  lots,  to  map  out,  to  build,  and  cultivate  the 
soil.  Their  great  men  remain  a caste  of  vigilant 
and  restless  warriors.  The  humbler  sort  become 
a native  peasantry,  or  turn  their  enterprise  to  the 
pursuit  of  trade.  The  one  great  obligation  of 
self-defence  is  still  upon  them  all.  Each  man 
must  hold  himself  ready,  at  his  lord’s  call,  in  his 
person,  and  with  his  labour  and  substance,  in  the 
king’s  wars.  With  the  latter  there  is  no  distinc- 
tion between  public  and  private  emergencies. 
What  he  sacrifices  for  the  general  good  he  equally 
dispenses  for  his  own  personal  advantage.  He 
represents  the  unity  of  the  race,  and  his  action  is 
only  magnified  in  theirs.  A danger  is  at  hand, 
and  the  nation  must  repel  it  at  whatever  cost. 
Granting  its  existence,  what  that  danger  is,  or 
how  or  whence,  is  for  the  moment  at  least  no 
affair  of  theirs.  Such  is  the  position  that  they 
have  accepted  by  adopting  a system  which  alone 
has  wrought  their  greatness. 

Suppose,  then,  that  an  army  of  defence  has 
voluntarily  assembled,  equipped,  and  even  pro- 
visioned, for  a certain  space  of  time  at  individual 
expense.  But,  except  under  the  most  primitive 
conditions  of  warfare,  a still  greater  outlay  will  be 
needed  to  keep  it  under  arms,  to  brace  the  slug- 
glish  mass  with  the  sinews  of  war.  Whence  are 
these  funds  to  be  procured  ? From  the  first  it 


190  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


was  decided  that  all  must  contribute  where  the 
safety  of  all  was  concerned.  But  now  all  are  not 
fit  to  bear  arms  ; moreover,  all  are  not  now  acces- 
sible. The  nation  has  shifted  the  responsibility  of 
its  defence  upon  the  king.  He  has  resources  of 
his  own,  a revenue,  such  as  it  is,  sufficient  for  the 
expenses  of  state.  The  quarrel  is  his  ; let  him 
bear  the  brunt  himself.  That  is  what  actually 
came  to  pass,  as,  indeed,  was  inevitable  in  a state 
pretending  to  civilization.  In  this  aspect  the  king 
was  the  state,  and,  it  may  be  added,  always  has 
been.  The  tribal  warrior  did  not  load  his  chief 
with  arms  and  necessaries  for  the  latter’s  private 
aggrandizement,  but  to  qualify  him  for  his  post  as 
champion  of  the  race  ; ‘ to  do  him  honour/  we  are 
told,  ‘ and  also  to  relieve  his  necessities/*  Now, 
this  honour  was  essentially  for  the  credit  of  the 
community,  and  the  necessity  of  the  hour  was 
equally  a concern  of  their  own. 

Thus  we  find  that  in  the  latter  period  to  which 
we  were  referring,  the  new  nation  endowed  their 
king  with  a prerogative  derived  apparently  from 
that  early  system  of  oblations  of  levying  supplies 
at  discretion  to  meet  his  sovereign  requirements  ; 
in  other  words,  the  right  of  prisage,  pre-emption, 
or  purveyance.  The  personal  security  or  pre- 
eminence of  the  ruler  before  the  world  was,  in 
those  days,  and  for  long  after,  the  first  object  of 
* Tacitus,  ‘Germania,’  c.  xiv. 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 19 1 

statecraft.  Next  to  this  his  dignity  and  state  were 
of  the  most  importance.  Therefore,  above  all 
things,  he  must  be  a victorious  ruler ; and  he 
must  also  be  strong  in  justice  and  conspicuous  in 
splendour.  He  was  paid  to  be  efficient ; but  he 
was  not  left  to  regulate  the  pay  according  to  the 
efficiency  displayed.  No  such  principle  is  even 
yet  consistently  recognised  ; but  at  this  point  the 
ruler  is  left  to  his  own  devices.  Those  are 
various ; some  creditable,  others  the  reverse. 
Here  it  concerns  us  only  to  trace  the  consti- 
tutional origin  and  scope  of  one  of  them. 

The  king  had,  in  Anglo-Saxon  times,  we  may 
believe,  the  prerogative  of  prisage  or  purveyance — 
the  admitted  right  to  purchase,  ‘ for  his  own  use/ 
stores  or  material  at  an  official  discretion  with 
regard  to  quantity  or  price.  He  represented  the 
glory  of  the  nation,  and  his  equipage,  appoint- 
ments, and  hospitality,  must  be  such  as  to  magnify 
the  post.  Of  what  did  this  executive  task  consist  ? 
If  we  reduced  the  expenditure  incurred  therein  to 
an  average,  it  would  be  found  to  be  two-thirds  for 
fighting,  and  the  residue  for  dress  and  diet.  There- 
fore, for  every  charger  or  harness  which  the  crown 
required  in  the  public  service  to  grace  some  pomp 
or  ceremony,  for  every  ox  slaughtered  for  the  royal 
table,  twice  as  many  again  would  figure  in  the  field 
of  war,  or  replenish  the  salting-tubs  of  a royal 
garrison. 


192  Antiquities  of  the  Ex  chequer. 


Roughly  speaking,  the  supplies  of  which  the 
king  stood  in  need  were  of  two  kinds  : (1)  Pro- 
visions for  his  household  and  retinue  for  every- 
day consumption  ; for  feast-days  and  ceremonies  ; 
for  journeys  and  expeditions  at  home  and  abroad. 
(2)  Dress  and  appointments  for  the  same  on  like 
occasions. 

For  three  centuries  after  the  Conquest  there  was 
no  limit  finally  established  for  the  demand  thus 
created.  If  the  king  and  his  men  were  ‘ at  home  ’ 
on  any  working  day  of  the  year,  a comparatively 
modest  supply  was  sufficient  for  the  requirements 
of  the  royal  household.  On  any  festival  day,  and 
especially  those  on  which  the  king  wore  his  crown, 
according  to  custom,  preparations  on  a much  larger 
scale  were  necessary.  During  a campaign  or  state 
progress  abroad,  the  ordinary  arrangements  of  the 
service  underwent  a complete  change.  The  court 
was  now  a camp,  the  retinue  an  army.  There 
were  10,000  mouths  to  feed  instead  of  1,000,  and 
a like  increment  in  the  expenditure  requisite  for 
their  equipment.  It  is  true  that  under  the  Norman 
kings  this  excrescence  was  not  readily  perceptible. 
The  vassal  followed  his  lord  at  his  own  cost.  The 
executive  had  no  responsibility  as  to  whether  or  no 
the  militiaman  starved  in  that  service,  and  there- 
fore it  often  happened  that  the  men  of  his  county 
supplied  him  with  funds  sufficient  for  his  support 
during  the  campaign.  With  the  Plantagenet  kings 


The  Making  of  the  Budget.  193 

came  the  great  change  in  feudal  warfare — the  com- 
mutation of  personal  service  for  an  assessment  in 
money  or  kind.  Henceforth  for  the  most  part 
the  sovereign  waged  war  at  his  own  expense, 
defrayed  by  the  existing  revenues  of  the  crown. 
The  necessary  supplies  for  the  palace  or  the  castle- 
camp,  the  hunting  excursion  or  the  foreign  progress, 
for  each  and  for  all,  were  levied  by  the  king’s  man- 
date from  his  subject  producers.  ‘The  process  was 
as  follows  : The  crown  required  oxen  and  sheep 
and  corn  for  the  royal  household  or  army — 4 ad 
opus  nostrum  et  nostrorum.’  Then  a writ  of  privy 
seal  was  directed  to  its  officers  in  the  counties — 
the  sheriffs  in  most  cases — commanding  such  pro- 
vision to  be  made  at  the  royal  expense,  for  the 
officer  was  allowed  the  nominal  outlay  incurred  in 
his  account.  If  wine  were  lacking  for  a like 
service,  the  king’s  chamberlains  at  London  and 
Sandwich,  in  early  times,  took  from  each  cargo 
landed  in  England,  unfranked,  one  cask  on  each 
side  of  the  mast,  at  the  most,  for  half  its  market 
value.  If  this  were  not  enough  to  furnish  the 
quota  specified,  part  of  the  cargo  was  purchased  at 
a slightly  higher  rate.  It  even  happened,  by  no 
means  unfrequently,  too,  that  a ship,  with  all  its 
cargo  of  wine,  was  chartered  by  the  crown,  and 
navigated  forthwith  to  the  required  point  ; but  it 
seems  to  have  been  usual  to  subject  only  foreign 
vessels  to  this  exaction.  In  like  manner  clothing, 

l3 


194  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


arms,  horses,  and  miscellaneous  stores  were  pro- 
cured indiscriminately  for  the  royal  need  or  gratifi- 
cation. 1 Ad  opus  regis  et  suorum  ’ was  a password 
that  opened  every  grange  or  warehouse. 

In  the  age  of  which  we  are  speaking  the  king 
had  not  only  the  prescriptive  right  to  obtain  relief 
for  the  necessities  of  his  person  or  of  his  state  from 
the  products  of  the  soil — lead,  iron,  tin,  corn, 
cattle,  wool,  and  even  articles  of  staple  manufac- 
ture-— but  he  also  acquired  by  means  hereof  a 
species  of  vested  interest  in  the  prevailing  distri- 
bution of  those  forms  of  wealth.  In  one  aspect, 
as  the  supreme  landlord  of  the  nation,  he  was  im- 
plicated in  his  tenants’  welfare.  Their  prosperity 
was  the  security  for  the  strength  and  efficiency  of 
his  rule,  and  he  felt  justified  in  insisting  that  the 
security  should  be  tangible.  It  is  thus  that  we 
arrive  at  the  explanation  of  the  fact  that  the 
crown,  in  the  earliest  period  of  our  history,  had 
the  absolute  regulation  of  internal  traffic,  of  sale 
or  barter  between  its  subjects,  in  its  own  hands. 
If  a tenant’s  wealth,  by  his  own  simplicity  or 
negligence,  became  diverted  into  other  channels, 
this  event,  the  economic  importance  of  which  was 
so  slight,  was  otherwise  disastrous  to  the  crown. 
It  had  lost  the  efficient  service  of  a fighting  man, 
and  it  had  also  lost  an  available  contribution  to 
its  own  possible  necessities.  The  spirit  which 
prompted  the  enactments  preventing  a freeman 


1 The  Making  of  the  Budget . 195 

from  parting  with  his  arms  under  any  circum- 
stances was  the  same  with  that  which  ordered  the 
form  of  his  bargains  with  his  neighbours,  and 
debarred  him  from  the  risks  and  profits  alike  of 
international  commerce.  It  is  proper  to  insist 
much  upon  this  explanation  of  the  undoubted 
phenomenon  of  the  crown  alone  possessing  the 
right  to  erect  a market  at  large  for  the  produce  of 
the  land.  Historians  are  apt  to  dwell  upon  the 
necessity  ever  present  to  the  chief  magistrate,  of 
keeping  the  peace  between  his  turbulent  subjects, 
as  a readier  solution  of  the  problem  ; and  in  one 
sense  the  suggestion  is  a reasonable  one.  It  was, 
indeed,  essential  that  each  party  to  the  primitive 
bargains  of  the  period  should  be  convinced  that 
the  other  had  a ‘ clean-back/  as  their  jargon  went  ; 
but  this  theory  will  not  explain  the  still  wider 
control  of  the  crown  for  the  commercial  welfare 
of  the  nation  at  large,  exercised  without  question 
into  far  later  times.  In  any  case,  the  fact  remains 
that  under  no  circumstances  was  a subject  of  this 
kingdom  at  liberty  to  absent  himself  beyond  th»- 
cognizance  of  the  Government,  even  in  the  pursuit 
of  his  lawful  occupation.  Neither  might  such  a 
one  export  or  transport  to  a distant  place  any 
commodity  of  the  kingdom  without  the  royal 
license.  Thus,  he  could  not  at  his  own  will  con- 
sign a cargo  of  tin,  wood,  wool,  leather,  corn, 
flesh,  fish,  or  other  staple  articles  to  the  order  of  a 

13—2 


i 96  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Flemish  agent,  or  of  a fellow-subject  in  one  of  the 
French  dependencies  of  the  English  erown.  Nay, 
more  ! It  was  an  admitted  fact  that  the  sovereign’s 
prerogative  was  infringed,  his  state  impaired,  by 
any  such  transaction,  and  amends  must  be  made 
on  either  score  by  the  payment  of  a substantial 
fine  in  consideration  of  a royal  license  to  trade  in 
the  way  proposed.  In  the  face  of  this  fundamental 
right,  how  are  we  to  dismiss  the  notion  of  the 
crown’s  proprietary  interests  in  the  products  of  the 
soil  from  our  minds  ? It  would  seem  as  though  the 
sovereign,  holding  that  the  entire  native  wealth  of 
the  kingdom  lay  at  his  disposal  for  the  relief  of 
those  needs  which  were  incurred  by  his  royal  state 
or  responsibilities,  would  suffer  no  portion  thereof 
to  be  removed  beyond  his  reach  without  compen- 
sating his  revenue  for  the  possible  losses  which  it 
might  thus  sustain. 

It  is  far  less  probable  that  the  crown,  in  its 
infinite  wisdom  and  justice  and  strength,  should 
have  immediately  arrived  at  the  following  compact 
with  its  subjects  in  their  interests,  which  the 
orthodox  sticklers  for  an  illimitable  constitution 
have  loved  to  suppose  : that  it  should,  with  the 
consent  of  all,  have  been  allowed  to  levy  defi- 
nite contributions  from  merchandise  which  passed 
through  the  outports  to  maintain  the  safety  of  the 
seas  ; from  the  inland  carts  and  barges  to  main- 
tain the  king’s  peace  upon  the  highways  and 


Tdhe  Making  of  the  Budget. 


197 


common  rivers  ; and  at  the  gates  and  quays  of  its 
great  cities  to  ensure  the  latter  a decent  provision 
for  an  orderly  municipal  government,  or  for  a 
strong  imperial  occupation  in  the  interests  of  its 
own  state  and  revenue. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  the  latter  object  did 
seemingly  enter  into  the  calculations  of  the  Govern- 
ment, and  that  the  consideration  which  it  received 
from  its  subjects  on  such  occasions  was  in  view  of 
a twofold  concession  made  to  them  on  its  own 
part.  Those  who  lined  to  the  crown  for  a license 
to  traffic  within  the  limits  of  its  sovereign  control 
were  not  only  acquitted  of  all  claims  to  ordinary 
prisage  or  toll,  but  received,  at  the  same  time,  a 
guarantee  for  the  safety  of  themselves  and  their 
property  against  any  hindrance,  seizure,  or  exac- 
tion whatsoever.  Safety  to  whom  and  from  what  ? 
we  should  ask.  The  question  is  not  a needless 
one,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 

The  king’s  peace,  except  in  the  case  of  certain 
remote  franchises,  reigned  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land.  By  a wise  disposition,  too, 
the  authority  of  the  crown  was  nowhere  so  jealously 
guarded,  or  so  frequently  exerted,  as  in  the  very 
spots  where  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  order 
was  most  liable  to  be  threatened.  The  waggoner 
or  packhorse-driver  and  his  master  reflected  as 
they  plunged  into  the  depth  of  a royal  forest  that, 
thanks  to  their  sovereign’s  hobby  in  the  shape  of 


198  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


venery,  not  an  outlaw  dare  make  himself  known 
in  a country  where  the  very  highroads  were  beset 
with  footpads,  and  paid  their  modest  toll  accord- 
ingly with  willing  hearts  at  the  forest-gate.  So, 
too,  the  wool-barge  or  hay-lighter  which  navigated 
the  upper  waters  of  the  Thames  gladly  submitted 
to  the  avalage  imposed  by  the  king’s  bailiff  or  farmer. 
It  could  scarcely  otherwise  have  been  a pleasant 
passage  for  the  market-boat  of  the  reign  of  John 
within  the  clutches  of  such  governors  as  might  be 
in  lack  of  stores  in  any  royal  castle  from  Windsor 
to  Oxford.  But  even  the  hardiest  of  public 
robbers  had  a wholesome  dread  of  poaching  on 
royal  preserves,  lest  he  should  be  invited  by  the 
Exchequer  Barons  to  fine  for  his  acquittal  in 
thirty  marks,  or  should  receive  the  royal  missive  at 
sight,  of  which  he  must  surrender  his  command  to 
the  bearer.  But  all  men  who  were  not  out  of  the 
pale  of  the  law  were  entitled  to  the  benefit  of 
the  king’s  peace,  and  certainly  no  exception  was 
made  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  mercantile  com- 
munity. 

Why,  then,  did  the  latter  show  themselves  so 
desirous  of  obtaining  the  king’s  letters  patent? 
The  fact  is  that  they  were  divided  into  two  classes, 
each  trading  under  different  circumstances.  The 
one  was  composed  of  native  merchants,  natural- 
born  subjects — indigene,  as  they  were  called — who 
fined  to  the  crown  for  license  to  export  produce 


u)9 


' The  Making  of  the  Budget. 

of  the  kingdom  to  a foreign  mart ; or  only  to 
transport  it  along  the  coast  to  one  of  the  great 
English  fairs,  such  as  Boston  or  Lenn  (Lynn).  The 
other  comprised  foreign  merchants,  aliens,  strangers, 
or  alienigen<£ , who  equally  fined  for  liberty  to 
introduce  themselves  or  their  wares  into  England, 
subject  to  existing  regulations.  The  former  class 
received  the  king’s  protection  from  molestation, 
not  at  the  hands  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  for 
the  safeguard  would  have  been  needless,  but  to 
pass  them  safely  through  the  officious  hands  of  the 
royal  Customers  and  bailiffs,  who  would  otherwise 
have  made  short  work  of  their  liberty  and  cargoes 
by  handing  over  the  4 pirate  ’ to  the  custody  of  the 
sheriff*  to  await  examination  and  heavy  fine  or  bail 
in  the  Exchequer  chamber,  and  by  seizing  and 
disposing  of  his  merchandise  as  forfeit  to  the 
crown.  The  alien,  on  the  other  hand,  did  really 
stand  in  need  of  a safe-conduct,  in  view  both  of 
these  official  severities  and  still  more  of  the  jealous 
hatred  of  their  own  hopeful  Customers,  the  en- 
lightened and  protectionist  natives  of  the  land  ; for 
to  the  custos  at  the  outport,  the  river-side  baron, 
the  wayside  outlaw,  and  the  town  apprentice,  the 
Lombard  or  Flemish  pedlar,  appeared  fair  game 
for  violence  and  extortion  in  every  form. 

We  have  thus  seen  that  the  custuma , or  practice 
of  the  crown  to  levy  a revenue  from  produce 
exported  from  or  imported  into  the  kingdom,  was 


200  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


a gradual  development  of  the  earlier  consuetudo , or 
prerogative  (for  it  was  not  from  the  first  limited 
by  the  constitution,  as  some  have  supposed,  but 
was  the  birthright  of  the  sovereign  from  time 
immemorial),  by  virtue  of  which  the  king  took 
prises  of  provisions  or  stuff  to  supply  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  state  or  warfare  from  his  own  subjects  ; 
and  exacted  the  same  with  a still  higher  hand  from 
foreign  traders,  who  might  be  both  ‘ strangers  ’ and 
‘ foes,’  according  to  the  caprice  of  all  rude  nations. 
The  one  was  a caption  in  peace,  the  other  a capture 
of  war,  as  the  very  etymology  of  the  word  suffices 
to  prove,  interpreted  as  it  has  been  by  the  pre- 
scriptive usage  of  four  whole  centuries  of  recorded 
history.  We  shall  now,  therefore,  be  able  to 
follow  with  a clearer  understanding  the  following 
outline  of  the  process  which  is  found  existent  in 
very  early  times. 

It  would  seem  as  though  the  first  traces  of  the 
system  of  collecting  a certain  or  uncertain  toll  from 
commodities  of  the  land,  or  from  foreign  imports, 
were  connected  with  the  office  of  chamberlain  of 
the  king’s  household,  or  chamberlain  of  the  cities 
of  London  and  Sandwich.  With  regard  to  this 
appointment,  it  is  important  to  note  that  the  office 
of  chamberlain  was  in  immediate  contact  with  the 
department  of  the  king’s  wardrobe,  which  depart- 
ment had  the  administration  of  all  that  revenue 
(amongst  others)  which  accrued  from  the  royal 


The  Making  of  the  Budget. 


201 


prerogative  of  prisage  in  every  form,  and  which 
(with  the  rest)  was  chiefly  spent  upon  the  pay  of 
retainers  or  troops,  and  the  supply  of  household 
provisions  or  munitions  of  war. 

The  remaining  class  of  the  Customs-revenue 
mentioned  in  these  early  records  is  that  of  a per- 
centage on  general  merchandise  in  part  acquittance, 
at  least,  of  the  old  liability  to  prisage.  The  crown 
had  quickly  made  the  discovery  that  a permanent 
revenue  was  more  easily  raised  from  personal  pro- 
perty than  from  real  estate,  and  of  the  latter  in  the 
shape  of  a toll  prepaid  in  hard  cash,  rather  than  of 
a more  or  less  vexatious  tithe  in  kind.  Naturally 
the  produce  formally  selected  as  the  subject  of  this 
organized  taxation  was  that  which  chiefly  repre- 
sented the  superfluous  wealth  of  the  country, 
exported  to  foreign  countries  in  payment  of  such 
necessaries  or  luxuries  as  were  required  for  home 
consumption.  From  very  early  times  this  staple 
export  was  recognised  as  consisting  of  wool,  wool- 
fells,  and  leather.  Wool,  then,  and  hides  were 
probably  the  chief  source  of  Customs-revenue  to 
the  crown  at  the  time  when  it  was  also  in  receipt 
of  frequent  fines  for  license  to  export  less  tangible 
articles  of  commerce. 

Minerals,  corn,  cattle,  and  other  produce  did 
not  offer  such  facilities  for  traffic  or  taxation  on  a 
twofold  ground.  In  the  first  place,  it  was  not 
easy  to  ensure  in  a rude  and  unquiet  age  more 


202  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


than  a limited  food-supply  for  the  demands  of  the 
population  ; neither  was  it  expedient,  on  political 
grounds,  to  risk  denuding  the  latter  of  the  neces- 
saries of  life  in  order  to  furnish  forth  possible  foes 
across  the  narrow  seas.  In  the  second  place,  the 
difficulties  of  rating  products  of  this  kind  were 
admittedly  great.  In  fact,  until  the  problem  was 
partially  solved  by  the  institution  of  a poundage 
on  their  intrinsic  value  only,  such  exports  could 
not  have  contributed  largely  to  the  revenue  col- 
lected from  merchants  by  means  of  a disme  or 
quinzime.  In  the  thirteenth  century  we  find  the 
one-tenth,  or  other  dividend,  chiefly  employed  in 
the  assessment  of  a constitutional  taxation  of 
property,  the  customary  toll  being  fixed  as  a 
rateage  on  the  bulk  of  staple  exports.  This  was 
now  practically  reduced  to  the  duty  of  6s.  8d. 
upon  every  sack  of  wool,  or  its  equivalent  in 
300  fells,  and  13s.  4d.  upon  each  last  of  hides 
exported.  All  other  exports  were  either  insignifi- 
cant in  amount,  or  were  discouraged,  and  indeed, 
for  the  most  part,  wholly  forbidden  by  the  crown 
for  motives  of  interest  and  policy.  But  when 
permitted,  such  exports  paid  Custom  rather  by  a 
fine  to  the  crown,  or  by  suffering  a heavy  liability 
to  prise,  than  by  a fixed  tariff. 

In  the  case  of  imports  whose  existence  was 
irksome  to  the  patriotism  as  well  as  to  the  self- 
seeking  spirit  of  the  times,  though  the  necessity 


203 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 

for  their  toleration  could  not  be  denied,  no  scale 
of  charge  on  the  same  plan  as  that  of  the  ancient 
or  great  Customs  of  wools  and  leather  was  in 
force  previous  to  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  There  was,  it  is  true,  a very  ancient 
prerogative  of  the  crown,  limited  by  common 
law,  though  never  by  statute,  for  taking  one  cask 
out  of  ten,  and  two  out  of  twenty — one,  that  is,  on 
each  side  of  the  mast,  from  every  cargo  of  imported 
wines  ; but  all  other  imports  were,  even  more  than 
uncustomed  produce,  liable  to  prisage  at  the  mere 
discretion  of  the  crown.  In  1275  the  rate  of  the 
older  Custom  upon  exports  was  fixed  by  statute  ; 
and  in  1303  the  convention  of  the  crown,  with 
alien  merchants  embodied  in  the  Carta  Mercatoria, 
settled  the  rates  chargeable  upon  the  imported 
wares  of  the  latter. 

These  two  enactments  are  the  great  landmarks 
in  the  history  of  our  Customs-revenue,  and  with 
these  that  history  properly  commences.  Mean- 
while, neither  such  exports  as  were  not  included 
in  the  Statute  of  Westminster,  nor  any  imports  of 
native  merchants,  were  subject  to  any  fixed  toll 
whatever,  but  continued  to  lie  within  the  crown’s 
prerogative  of  prisage.  In  spite  of  every  opposi- 
tion on  the  part  of  its  subjects,  that  prerogative 
was  exercised  by  successive  sovereigns  in  what 
they  took  to  be  the  kingdom’s  interests  for 
centuries  before  it  became  forcibly  disused. 


204  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


It  is  probable  that  long  before  the  absorption  of 
the  old  folk-land  into  the  royal  demesnes  it  had 
already  threatened  to  become  a source  of  danger 
to  the  community.  This  was  owing  to  its  physical 
character  as  a region  of  pathless  forests  and  wastes, 
the  refuge  of  beasts  of  prey  and  of  the  chase  ; the 
refuge  also  of  still  more  dangerous  marauders,  out- 
laws and  robbers,  who  subsisted  upon  the  spoils 
less  of  nature  than  of  the  industry  of  man.  Again, 
the  highways  and  the  great  rivers,  which  presum- 
ably had  been  parcel  of  the  public  lands,  were  not 
only  a source  of  anxiety  in  the  matter  of  repairs 
and  conservancy  respectively,  but  were  a positive 
inducement  to  crime.  Three  centuries  later  we 
find  the  crown  still  struggling  with  the  evil, 
clearing  the  woods  from  the  roadsides  that  no 
lurking-place  might  be  afforded  to  highwaymen, 
and  arming  the  rural  population  in  its  own  defence 
against  the  daily  commission  of  robberies  and 
murders. 

The  folk-lands  appear  to  have  become  crown- 
lands  somewhere  about  the  end  of  the  ninth 
century,  in  exchange  for  which  not  very  solid 
concession  the  sovereign  was  required  to  enter 
into  that  constitutional  contract  with  his  subjects 
which  runs  through  our  history  as  an  expansion  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  coronation  oath,  which  guaranteed 
the  liberties  of  all  in  matters  of  religion,  laws  and 
justice. 


2°5 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 

Now,  it  was  essential  that  the  laws  herein  referred 
to  should  be  ‘ good  laws.’  Furthermore,  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  ideal  of  beneficent  legislation  was  expressed 
in  the  traditional  ordinances  of  Edward  the  Con- 
fessor, made  with  the  approval  of  his  wise  men  ; 
and  in  these  enactments  it  will  be  observed  that 
the  theory  of  the  king’s  responsibility  for  the  pre- 
servation of  the  peace  is  strongly  expressed,  this 
peace  being  especially  enjoined  for  the  safety  of  all 
highways  and  great  rivers.  We  may  assume,  then, 
that  the  vills,  farms,  forests,  wastes,  and  highways 
before  mentioned,  as  forming  the  physical  structure 
of  the  folk-lands,  were  transferred  to  the  crown  as 
their  natural  custodian  by  the  name  of  royal 
demesne  in  trust  for  the  natural  rights  of  the 
subject,  together  with  an  absolute  jurisdiction, 
formulated  at  a later  date  as  forest-law,  conserv- 
ancy and  ‘ defence  ’ of  rivers  and  other  highways, 
and  a more  than  feudal  proprietorship  of  vills  and 
farms. 

The  profits  of  this  new  undertaking  were 
naturally  a considerable  inducement.  There  were 
not  only  the  farms  cultivated  or  leased  by  the 
crown,  and  the  produce  whereof,  at  this  early 
date,  was  rendered  in  kind  by  the  farmers  and 
bailiffs,  and  the  ‘ Gable  ’ rents  above  mentioned, 
but  also  there  was  the  infinite  vista  of  sport 
opened  up  to  the  Saxon  monarch,  who  loved  the 
chase  within  the  forest  glades  of  most  southern 


206  Antiquities  of  the  'Exchequer . 


shires.  Moreover,  there  was  the  ample  reward  of 
a vigilant  preservation  of  the  peace  upon  the 
avenues  of  commerce  in  the  shape  of  tolls  and 
fines,  paid  willingly  enough  by  the  merchant  in 
requital  of  this  supreme  safe-conduct,  which  passed 
him  and  his  wares  unharmed  through  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land.  Lastly,  the  crown  was 
enriched  by  the  net  receipts  from  fines  and 
amerciaments,  the  facilities  for  enforcing  which 
were  equally  connected  with  this  new  jurisdiction 
over  the  former  harbourage  of  crime. 

In  another  aspect  the  peace  of  the  Church  must 
be  considered  in  connection  with  the  civil  govern- 
ment of  the  temporal  ruler.  Here  the  Churchman 
appears  as  the  skilled  coadjutor  of  the  rude  tribal 
leader,  devising  modifications  of  spiritual  privileges 
to  meet  the  practical  requirements  of  the  lay  sub- 
jects. In  the  bulk  of  Saxon  laws  and  customs 
there  is  no  idea  more  prominent  than  that  of  a 
bond  between  Church  and  State  to  ensure  the 
preservation  of  peace,  which  was  the  first  essential 
of  moral  and  physical  well-being.  The  king  and 
the  archbishop  supported  one  another’s  dignity  by 
a primitive  law  of  treason  and  sacrilege,  and  the 
lives  and  property  of  their  subjects  and  congrega- 
tions by  a penal  code  and  ecclesiastical  ordinances 
framed  to  cover  every  interest  worthy  of  pro- 
tection ; while  the  earl  and  the  bishop  sat  together 
in  the  local  courts  to  expound  ‘ as  well  the  law  of 


‘The  Making  of  the  Budget . 207 

God  as  the  secular  law/  and  to  administer  a 
prompt,  yet  pious,  justice  with  the  common  assent 
and  assistance  of  the  great  body  of  Christian  free- 
men. 

The  progress  of  this  idea  may  be  traced  in  the 
legislative  memorials  of  Anglo-Saxon  nations  ; or, 
perhaps,  to  be  more  accurate  in  the  retrospective 
classification  of  English  law,  by  Norman  experts, 
until  the  highest  point  has  been  reached  in  the 
pretensions  of  the  kingly  state. 

The  following  is  the  summary  of  the  king's 
claim  to  be  regarded  as  the  ‘ fountain  of  justice 

4 These  are  the  prerogatives  which  the  King  of 
England  alone  and  above  all  men  enjoys  for  the 
preservation  of  peace  and  security : Breach  of  the 
peace  bestowed  by  his  hand,  contempt  of  his  writs 
or  precepts,  death  or  injury  of  his  servants,  in- 
fidelity and  treason,  disrespect  of  his  person,  fortifi- 
cations without  license,  false  coinage,  outlawry, 
murder,  robbery,  burglary,  assault  with  premedita- 
tion, narrowing  highways,  wreck,  treasure-trove, 
forests,  feudal  incidents,  Danegeld,  fugitives  from 
justice  or  battle,  false  judgments,  perversion  of 
laws,  Churchmen,  strangers,  poor,  needy,  and 
friendless  men/  etc. 

Such  is  the  fair  growth  of  the  king’s  peace  from 
the  germ  of  a patriarchal  obligation  tended  by  the 
devotion  of  the  Church  to  the  overshadowing 
expanse  of  a feudal  prerogative  trained  by  the 


20 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


civil  lawyers.  But,  in  spite  of  the  insignificance 
of  these  feudal  changes,  they  must  still  be  regarded 
as  the  secular  means  which  were  justified  by  a 
spiritual  end,  rather  than  as  a policy  of  mere  self- 
seeking.  This  old  simplicity  of  purpose  is  best 
seen  in  the  coronation  oaths  and  charters  or  other 
manifestoes  of  later  Saxon,  Norman,  and  Plantagenet 
sovereigns. 

It  was  not  long,  however,  before  the  purity  of 
this  patriarchal  policy  was  sullied  by  the  imputa- 
tion of  interested  motives.  Henceforth  the  king’s 
peace  was  destined  to  become  but  another  fiction 
of  the  constitution.  The  sovereign  was  no  longer 
the  leader,  Rex  Anglorum,  the  earlier  Dux  on  an 
imperial  scale,  but  the  feudal  proprietor,  Rex 
Angliae.  The  customary  contributions  of  his  sub- 
jects had  become  assessed  by  Domesday  Survey, 
and  commuted  by  scutage  and  carucage  as  forced 
taxes,  grudgingly  rendered  and  scornfully  accepted 
as  a scanty  provision  for  the  now  extensive  schemes 
of  the  European  potentate.  To  supplement  this 
meagre  supply,  the  crown  was  now  prepared  to 
coin  all  its  old  benevolent  prerogative  into  hard 
cash  to  meet  the  occasions  of  foreign  war  or 
household  pomp,  and  an  unfailing  mine  of  wealth 
was  opened  in  the  dispensation  of  that  protection 
which  was  now  so  necessary  to  its  industrial  subjects. 

The  simplest  and  commonest  form  of  the 
king’s  protection  was  given  under  his  hand,  or, 


209 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 

rather,  seal,  to  the  subject  petitioner.  This  was 
the  convenient  charter  which  answered  widely 
different  purposes  under  the  new  regime  of  in- 
quisitorial officialism  that  flourished  after  the  Con- 
quest, serving  alike  as  a title-deed  and  an  exemption 
from  vexations,  exactions,  or  litigation  to  those  who 
could  pay  for  its  possession.  This  selfish  policy 
was  unfortunately  facilitated  by  the  administrative 
machinery  devised  by  the  first  Plantagenet  king, 
for  the  mere  purpose,  it  seems,  of  being  abused  by 
his  degenerate  successors.  An  official  traffic  was 
carried  on  in  charters,  fines,  and  oblations,  re- 
gularly entered  to  the  credit  side  of  a now  ex- 
orbitant revenue. 

The  revenue  derived  from  the  issues  of  justice 
is  usually  classified  under  the  two  heads  of  fines 
and  amerciaments,  in  which  form  they  figure 
largely  in  the  Exchequer  records  of  the  twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries.  A fine,  as  is  well  known, 
was  a fee  taken  by  the  crown  in  return  for  the 
employment  of  its  good  offices  on  behalf  of  appli- 
cants for  offices,  suitors  for  justice,  or  subjects 
distressed  by  some  untoward  event.  In  form, 
they  were  usually  voluntary  offerings  to  obtain  the 
goodwill  of  the  sovereign,  and  they  might  be 
tendered  on  occasion  in  kind  as  well  as  in  money. 
Moreover,  there  was  this  implied  bargain  between 
the  parties,  that  the  fine  could  not  be  exacted  until 
the  consideration  had  been  realized.  In  certain 

14 


210 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


desperate  cases  the  crown  lent  its  assistance  only 
in  return  for  a large  percentage  of  the  desired 
concession.  The  greater  part  of  these  fines  fall 
under  the  head  of  law-proceedings — namely,  to 
procure  the  king’s  writ  for  the  expedition  of  a 
suit,  or  to  have  respite  from  sentence  pronounced, 
or  even  ‘ for  absolute  pardon  or  release.’  In  course 
of  time,  however,  the  most  valuable  portion  of 
this  revenue  was  derived  from  fines  for  protection 
or  license  in  respect  of  trade,  and  for  commercial 
or  agricultural  advantages  interdicted  bylaw.  All 
of  these  when  entered  in  the  Chancery  were  re- 
turned to  the  Exchequer  in  due  course  to  be 
levied,  or  were  estreated  thither  in  the  returns  of 
the  king’s  justices. 

Amerciaments  were  derived  from  the  pecuniary 
mulcts  imposed  on  offenders  before  the  king’s 
justices.  Those  who  were  convicted  here  were 
supposed  to  lie  at  the  king’s  mercy  in  respect  of 
their  possessions,  the  penalty  assessed  being  eventu- 
ally the  amerciament.  The  offences  which  figure 
most  commonly  in  the  Exchequer  records  are  in 
respect  of  trespasses  of  various  kinds,  defaults, 
false  claims  or  judgments,  contempts,  etc.  There 
was  also  the  famous  murder  fine  imposed  by  the 
Conqueror  on  the  hundred  in  which  a presumably 
political  murder  had  taken  place.  The  rate  for 
this  alone  is  stated  in  the  Dialogus  to  have  been 
£44,  but  it  has  been  conclusively  shown  that  a far 


Fig.  2 6. — Seal  of  Francis  I.  (See  p.  6 1.) 


The  Making  of  the  Budget . 


213 


smaller  rate  actually  prevailed.*  The  feudal 
income  of  the  sovereign  was  not  only  made  up 
from  the  royal  demesnes,  which  were  at  the  outset 
an  allodial,  and  eventually  a purely  feudal  posses- 
sion, but  more  especially  from  the  returns  due 
from  those  portions  which  he  had  granted  out  to 
his  feudal  followers  in  respect  of  military  service, 
or  its  equivalent  money-value  and  certain  recognised 
claims  and  liabilities  respectively,  which  are  usually 
known  as  feudal  incidents.  The  nature  of  all  of 
these  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  further 
explanation  here.  It  will  be  enough  to  observe 
that  this  portion  of  the  royal  revenue  was  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  thirteenth  century  in  a transi- 
tion state  between  a normal  tax  and  an  imperial 
levy  as  far  as  those  items  known  as  scutage  and 
aid  were  concerned. 

From  the  earliest  times  the  king’s  personal 
income  had  constituted  the  chief  pecuniary  re- 
source of  the  Government,  though  it  would  not 
be  correct  to  say  that  the  national  resources  were 
entirely  at  the  king’s  disposal,  because  the  applica- 
tion of  this  revenue  from  first  to  last  has  been 
controlled,  in  however  slight  a degree,  by  the 
counsel  and  consent  of  the  subjects.  In  theory 
truly  the  king  was  then,  and  for  centuries  after- 
wards, the  only  authorized  power  for  the  collection 
of  the  revenue  and  for  its  administration.  More- 

* Dialogus,  i.  10,  discussed  in  Pike’s  ‘History  of  Crime.’ 


2 1 4 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


over,  a considerable  part  of  the  revenue  was 
derived  from  the  exercise  of  his  mere  prerogative. 
But  although  the  sovereign  was  in  theory  the 
absolute  owner  of  the  land  and  the  fountain  of 
justice  and  honours  alike,  the  profits  which  accrued 
to  him  from  these  sources  were  barely  sufficient  in 
any  period  to  enable  him  ‘ to  live  of  his  own/ 
and  do  not  seem  to  have  excited  the  jealousy  of 
the  peers  or  the  discontent  of  the  commons.  It 
was  the  same  with  the  remaining  sources  of  his 
income,  the  casual  and  feudal  revenue.  The  king 
was  the  natural  recipient  of  such  windfalls  as 
treasure-trove  and  the  wreck  of  the  sea,  and  this 
branch  of  the  revenue  has  survived  unquestioned 
down  to  our  own  times.  Neither  could  it  be 
gainsaid  that  the  king,  having  established  his 
title  to  the  surplus  land  of  the  nation  at  the 
Conquest,  had  a right  to  expect  some  reasonable 
equivalent  for  military  grants  in  the  shape  of 
military  service  and  its  correlative  incidents.  It 
was  only  when  the  crown  abused  its  sacred  trust 
that  the  necessity  for  drawing  a sharp  distinction 
between  the  ordinary  and  extraordinary  revenue 
arose,  the  one  henceforth  a permissive  enjoyment 
within  certain  limitations  in  respect  of  the  larger 
items  of  purveyance,  the  Customs  and  fines  of 
justice,  and  the  other  entirely  subject  to  the 
control  of  Parliament  through  the  power  of  the 
purse  and  appropriation  of  supply. 


' The  Making  of  the  Budget.  215 

So  matters  stood  at  the  accession  of  Edward  I. 
The  exactions  of  the  crown  were  limited  in  the 
case  of  the  chief  subjects  of  assessment,  wools, 
and  leather  and  wine,  but  were  unlimited  with 
regard  to  all  other  merchandise.  This  was  especi- 
ally the  case  in  the  time  of  the  French  and  Scotch 
wars,  when  the  necessities  of  the  crown  compelled 
it  to  resort  to  the  extreme  measure  of  maltolte 
levied  both  in  specie  and  kind.  A climax  was 
reached  in  the  year  1297,  when,  after  enduring 
the  repeated  and  extortionate  prises  of  the  crown 
during  two  whole  years,  all  classes  of  its  subjects 
joined  in  the  presentation  of  a statement  of 
grievances,  and  supported  the  aristocratic  move- 
ment which  led  to  a coup  d'etat , and  a solemn 
declaration  of  reform  embodied  in  the  confirma- 
tion of  the  charters  and  the  articles  thereto  ap- 
pended. From  this  time  forward,  then,  the  crown 
abandoned,  its  rights  to  unconstitutional  prises, 
and  to  extraordinary  Customs,  such  as  maltolte. 
In  future,  therefore,  it  might  take  for  its  use  only 
such  quantity  of  provisions  as  was  absolutely 
required  for  the  royal  household.  So,  too,  it 
might  levy  no  Custom  beyond  the  half-mark,  and 
mark  upon  wools  and  leather,  without  consent  of 
Parliament.  The  result  of  this  constitutional 
assay  was  that  the  prerogative  claimed  in  both 
directions  by  the  crown  was  restored  to  political 
currency  with  an  altered  denomination  in  either 


216  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


case,  and  which  henceforth  obtained  with  few 
interruptions.  The  modified  prise  became  £ pur- 
veyance,’ properly  limited  to  the  requirements  of 
the  royal  household,  while  the  arbitrary  maltolte, 
when  granted  by  Parliament  to  relieve  the  crown’s 
necessities,  became  a subsidy,  levied  for  long  after 
at  the  same  rate  as  the  imposition  which  it  had 
supplanted. 

The  subsidy  was  a Parliamentary  grant  in 
excess  of  the  Customs,  levied  by  virtue  of  the 
crown’s  prerogative  from  certain  classes  of 
merchandise  after  the  respective  rates  appointed 
in  every  case.  Therefore,  just  as  the  Customs 
proper  were  of  a twofold  nature,  so,  too,  were  the 
corresponding  subsidies.  The  ancient  Custom  on 
wools  and  leather  was  linked  with  a subsidy  upon 
the  same  commodities,  collected  and  answered  at 
the  same  places,  in  the  same  manner,  and  returned 
in  the  same  account  as  the  other.  The  distinction 
between  the  two  was  this  : that  the  Custom  of 
wools  and  leather  was  derived  from  the  ancient 
prerogative  of  the  crown,  limited  and  renewed  in 
Parliament.  The  subsidy  of  wools  and  leather, 
on  the  other  hand,  depended  upon  the  grant  of 
Parliament,  limited  equally  as  to  the  rate,  but 
unlike  the  other,  also  limited  as  to  its  duration. 
The  second  sort  of  subsidy  was  that  which  practi- 
cally followed  the  details  of  the  new  Custom  of 
the  crown,  imposed,  strictly  speaking,  upon  aliens 


217 


The  Making  of  the  Budget. 

only.  The  chief  branches  of  this  latter  revenue 
were  derived  respectively  from  wines  imported, 
and  from  cloths  imported  or  exported,  like  the 
above,  only  by  aliens.  If  we  add  to  this  list  the 
supplementary  toll  in  kind  paid  by  denizens  upon 
wines  in  the  shape  of  the  prisage,  the  new  Custom 
of  cloth  paid  by  the  same  at  a lower  rate,  and  the 
poundage,  not  lawfully  due,  upon  their  goods  of 
avoir-du-pois,  but  realized  by  the  crown  at  its 
best  discretion,  we  shall  perhaps  complete  our 
examination  of  every  article  on  which  Custom  in 
any  shape  was  chargeable.  According  to  the  pre- 
cedent of  the  original  subsidy,  therefore,  though  at 
an  interval  of  thirty  years,  an  increase  of  all  these 
Customs  was  made  by  grant  of  Parliament.  This, 
in  its  usual  form,  was  the  grant  of  tunnage,  as  a 
subsidy  upon  every  tun  of  wine  imported  by 
denizens  or  aliens  alike  beyond  the  prisage  and 
butlerage  ; and  that  of  poundage,  or  the  subsidy 
payable  both  by  denizens  and  aliens  upon  every 
librate  of  merchandise  beyond  the  poundage  already 
paid  by  aliens. 

Lastly  there  remains  to  be  mentioned  the  Parlia- 
mentary subsidies  assessed  on  lands  and  goods  in 
excess  of,  or  rather  in  lieu  of,  the  ancient  feudal 
levies,  which  had  become  obsolete  before  the  middle 
of  the  fourteenth  century. 

These,  then,  were  the  subsidies  raised  in  the 
eighth  year  of  Edward  III.,  and  continued  down 


2i 8 Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


to  our  own  day  as  the  land-tax  and  income-tax 
respectively,  the  latter  in  a more  rudimentary  form 
as  the  tenths  and  fifteenths  of  all  movables,  and 
the  former  with  little  change  either  of  form  or 
title.  From  this  time  we  read  no  more  of  scu- 
tages or  carucages,  or  of  halfs  or  fortieths.  The 
feudal  incidents  alone  remained  an  odious  and 
obsolete  liability  down  to  the  reign  of  Charles  II., 
when  their  place  was  taken  by  the  Excise,  which 
was  destined  to  become  the  mainstay  of  the  Budgets 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  even  as  the  modern 
form  of  the  income-tax  has  proved  to  be  in  our 
own  day. 


APPENDIX . 


NOTES  TO  THE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 
RONTISPIECE. — Drawn  from  the  original 


chest  in  the  Public  Record  Office.  A 
view  of  this  chest  is  given  in  the  photozinco- 
graph  edition  of  Domesday  Book,  which,  however, 
affords  a very  inadequate  idea  of  its  contour.  This 
receptacle  was  one  of  many  similar  Area  which 
are  described  in  the  Pialogus  de  Scaccario , and 
notices  of  which  appear  throughout  the  ancient 
calendars  of  the  treasury  of  the  Receipt.  The 
measurement  of  this  chest  is  given  at  p.  50. 

Fig.  1,  p.  31. — Sketch-plan  of  the  ancient 
Palace  and  Church  of  Westminster,  showing  the 
probable  position  of  the  Exchequer  buildings  and 
of  the  Tower  mentioned  in  the  Pialogus.  The 
date  of  this  theoretical  plan  is  the  thirty-first  year 
of  Edward  I.,  subsequent,  therefore,  to  the  great 
fire,  and  the  removal  of  the  Barons’  Court  to  the 
opposite  side  of  the  Great  Hall.  The  Exchequer 
itself  was,  however,  at  this  time  temporarily  fixed 


220  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


at  York.  From  this  time  onwards  the  old  site 
was  occupied  by  the  offices  of  the  Receipt  (Pells 
and  Audit),  while  the  Tower  was  eventually  merged 
in  the  structure  of  the  Chapel  of  St.  Stephen’s,  used 
as  the  House  of  Commons.  The  ground-plan  of 
the  Abbey  precincts  is  intended  to  illustrate  the 
position  of  the  treasury  at  the  time  of  the  robbery, 
and  the  movements  of  the  supposed  thieves. # 

Fig.  2,  p.  52. — Drawing  of  a hanaper,  or  hamper, 
used  as  a receptacle  for  loose  records. 

Fig.  3,  p.  52. — Drawing  of  a skippet,  or  turned 
vase  of  wood,  used  for  a like  purpose. 

Figs.  4 to  18,  pp.  5 5- 5 8. — Symbols  affixed  to 
Exchequer  chests  or  other  receptacles  of  records 
in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  and  in- 
tended as  a form  of  picture-writing  for  the  purpose 
of  describing  the  contents.  Some  of  these  were 
merely  temporary  in  character,  others  more  per- 
manent, and  probably  utilized  down  to  the  present 
century.  Thus  there  is  still  a wooden  box  pre- 
served in  the  Public  Record  Office,  and  recently  in 
use,  which  is  marked  with  a star  as  a symbol  for 

* Since  this  was  written,  further  excavations  at  Winchester 
have  disclosed  a considerable  portion  of  the  old  Norman 
palace  in  or  connected  with  which  the  Treasury  was  first 
permanently  fixed  at  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century. 
It  should  have  been  mentioned  incidentally  in  Chapter  I. 
that  another  so-called  ‘ confession  * is  preserved,  namely,  that 
of  J.  de  Rippinghall  (T.  of  R.  Misc.  f4),  but  it  throws  no 
light  whatever  on  the  mystery. 


Appendix . 221 

the  Star  Chamber,  and  some  still  earlier  symbols  are 
preserved  on  record  pouches.  Most  of  these  figures 
explain  at  a glance  the  use  they  were  intended 
to  serve.  They  are  all  drawn  from  the  originals 
preserved  at  the  Public  Record  Office  in  Bishop 
Stapleton's  Calendar  and  the  Liber  Memorandorum. 

Fig.  19,  p.  1 1 5. — Diagram  of  the  Exchequer- 
table,  showing  the  probable  combination  of  the 
counters  used  by  the  Calculator  to  mark  the 
state  of  the  sherifF s account  as  described  in  the 
Dialogus , i.  3.  The  several  items  of  the  farm  of  the 
county  are  arranged  here  in  order.  The  top  row 
of  figures  represents  the  amount  of  the  farm  as 
ascertained  from  the  Exactory  Roll.  The  second 
row  shows  the  sums  paid  into  the  treasury  by  the 
sherifF  at  Easter  by  tallies,  and  at  Michaelmas  in 
cash,  respectively.  The  rows  below  this  represent 
the  several  sums  disbursed  by  the  sheriff  out  of 
his  farm  in  the  king’s  service,  and  allowed  by  the 
barons.  These  being  added  to  the  second  row, 
represent  the  state  of  his  indebtedness  thus : 


£ 

s. 

d.  £ 

s. 

d. 

I. 

300  + 20  X 3 + 14 

IO 

6=37+ 

10 

6 

2. 

300+  15  

H 

= 315 

H 

0 

3- 

20  + 8 

= 28 

0 

0 

4- 

12 

18 

2 = 12 

18 

2 

5- 

H 

17 

4=  H 

17 

4 

£371  9 6 


Balance  against  sherifF  ..,  £3 


o 


222 


Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Fig.  20,  p.  1 21. — An  Exchequer  tally,  drawn 
from  the  original  in  the  Public  Record  Office. 
The  Latin  superscription  records  that  ‘ Thomas 
Godesire  owes  to  Joscy,  of  Kent,  the  Jew,  30s., 
namely,  a half  at  the  feast  of  St.  Michael  in  the 
year  of  Grace  1229,  and  a half  at  the  feast  of 
St.  Martin  next  following,  in  accordance  with  the 
chirograph — Surety,  Andrew  of  Mikelgate.’  This 
tally,  therefore,  was  probably  preserved  in  the  Ex- 
chequer of  the  Jews. 

Fig.  21,  p.  12 1. — Another  tally,  also  drawn 
from  the  original.  The  superscription  is  as 
follows  : ‘ Against  the  Reeve,  of  Ledecumbe,  for 
monies  received  of  his  farm  to  Lady  Day,  and 
of  the  rent  to  Hock-tide  in  the  56th  year  [of 
Henry  III.],  by  the  hands  of  John  Squire  and 
Ralph  Hare.'  Very  few  specimens  of  these  early 
tallies  now  exist.  The  above  and  several  others 
were  described  by  the  author  for  the  Pipe  Roll 
Society  (vol.  iii.),  illustrated  by  a photographic 
plate  of  six  specimens. 

Figs.  22  and  23,  p.  132. — Two  symbols  of  the 
Exchequer,  the  first  of  which  is  interesting  from 
its  very  early  date,  and  the  rcirg<e  or  columns  of 
account  partly  shown  on  the  margins.  This  figure 
is  drawn  from  the  Memoranda  Roll,  L.T.R., 
19  Henry  III.  The  second  figure  is  drawn  from 
the  Liber  Memorandorum. 

Fig.  24,  p.  163. — The  gold  seal  of  the  earliest 


Appendix . 


223 


of  the  three  famous  golden  leagues  always  preserved 
in  the  king’s  treasury.  This  was  the  charter  of 
Alphonso  the  Wise,  of  Castille,  dated  November  1, 
1254,  in  favour  of  Prince  Edward.  The  gold  of 
this  seal  is  very  fine  in  quality,  but  the  surface  is 
considerably  worn.  The  lion  and  castle  are 
probably  armorial  emblems.  A similar  charter 
of  nearly  the  same  date,  but  with  a leaden  seal 
attached,  is  preserved  in  the  British  Museum,  in 
the  case  which  contains  Magna  Carta. 

Fig.  25,  p.  1 7 1. — The  gold  seal  of  the  second 
of  the  golden  leagues,  being  the  bull  of  Pope 
Clement  VII.,  dated  March  5,  1524,  conferring 
the  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith  on  Henry  VIII. 
The  design,  unlike  that  of  the  ordinary  leaden 
bulla  or  seal,  is  highly  ornate. 

Fig.  26,  p.  21 1. — The  famous  seal  of  Francis  I., 
attributed  by  some  good  judges  to  Benvenuto 
Cellini,  is  attached  to  the  third  golden  league,  the 
Treaty  of  Peace  and  Alliance  concluded  between 
England  and  France  in  1527.  The  collar  on  the 
reverse  is  that  of  the  Order  of  St.  Michael.  This 
figure,  like  the  two  preceding  ones,  is  drawn  from 
the  original  preserved  in  the  Public  Record  Office. 
In  the  fourteenth  century  many  other  ‘ golden 
leagues  ’ were  preserved  in  the  treasury,  but  these 
three  alone  survived  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 


LIST  OF  AUTHORITIES * 


(/.)  Manuscripts : 

Lord  Treasurer’s  Remembrancer’s  Me- 
moranda Rolls. 

Queen’s  Remembrancer’s  Memoranda  Rolls. 
Great  Rolls  (known  as  Annual,  Pipe, 
Treasurer’s,  or  Chancellor’s). 

Receipt  Rolls  and  Books  (Pells  or  Auditor’s) . 
Issue  Rolls  and  Books  (Pells  or  Auditor’s). 
Red  Book  of  the  Exchequer. 

Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer. 

Small  Black  Book  of  the  Exchequer. 

Libri  Munimentorum. 

Originalia  Rolls. 

Close  Rolls. 

Patent  Rolls. 

Treasury  of  the  Receipt  Miscellanea. 

* The  bibliography  of  the  Exchequer  is  so  extensive  and  so 
widely  distributed,  that  a complete  list  would  form  a work  to 
itself.  The  present  list,  however,  will  be  found  to  contain 
all  the  authorities  required  for  practical  purposes. 


List  of  Authorities. 


225 


(/.)  Manuscripts  (continued) : 

Queen’s  Remembrancer’s  Miscellanea. 
State  Papers  Domestic. 

Treasury  Papers. 


(*/.)  Printed  Works: 

Madox — History  and  Antiquities  of  the 
Exchequer,  1769,  2 vols. 

Thomas — -The  Ancient  Exchequer,  1848, 

1 vol. 

Devon — Issues  of  the  Exchequer  (Record 
Publications,  No.  57). 

Vernon — The  Exchequer  opened,  1661, 
1 vol. 

Historical  View  of  the  Court  of  Ex- 
chequer, by  a late  Learned  Judge,  1 73 
1 vol. 

Treatise  on  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  by  a 
late  Lord  Chief  Baron,  1758,  1 vol. 

Palgrave — Calendars  and  Inventories  of 
the  Exchequer  (Record  Publications, 
No.  53). 

Printed  Pipe  Rolls  in  Record  Publications, 
and  Pipe  Roll  Society’s  Publications. 

Jones Index  to  the  Memoranda  and 

Originalia. 

Liebermann — Einleitung  in  den  Dialogus 
(Gottingen),  1875. 


*5 


226 


List  of  Authorities . 


(it.)  Printed  JVorks  (continued): 

Pike — History  of  Crime  (Longman’s), 
2 vols. 

Cunningham — Growth  of  Industry  and 
Commerce,  1890,  1 vol. 

Stubbs — Constitutional  History,  vols.  1 
and  2. 


The  subject  has  been  treated  by  the  Author 
in  the  Introduction  to  the  Pipe  Rolls  (Pipe 
Roll  Society),  Court  Life  under  the  Plantagenets 
(1890),  and  in  a number  of  articles  contributed 
at  intervals  during  the  last  ten  years  to  various 
journals. 


Abingdon,  Chronicle  of,  9 
Aids,  Book  of,  59 
Albemarle,  Isabella,  Countess  of, 
82 

Amerciaments,  210 

Anne,  Queen,  88 

Avalage,  the  toll  so-called,  198 

Bank  of  England,  36 
Barons  of  the  Exchequer,  66,  198 
Bedford,  County  of,  165 
Berwick,  Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Boston,  Fair  of,  199 
Brittany,  Conan,  Earl  of,  168 
Brunus,  Master  Thomas,  83,  138 
Buckinghamshire,  165 
Budget,  Making  of  the,  174 
Burleigh,  Lord,  13 1 

Cambridge,  County  of,  168 
Carlisle,  Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Carnarvon,  Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Carta  Mercatoria,  The,  203 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  83 
Chancery,  The  Rolls  of,  170 
Charles  II.,  Commutation  of  the 
revenue  under,  218 
Chess-game,  Exchequer,  114  et  seq. 
Chester,  Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Clement  VII.,  Pope,  Golden  Bull 
of,  171 

Coinage,  Debasement  of,  39 
Counters,  used  at  Exchequer,  118, 
124,  126,  221 

Customs,  Regulation  of  the,  215 


Danegeld,  6,  63 

Dialogus  de  Scaccario,  15,  64,  70 
90,  125-127,  131,  132,  210 
Domesday  Book,  48,  53,  58,  63, 
178,  179 

Derivation  of  name  of,  9 
Chest  for,  50,  219 
Domesday  Survey,  208 
Dublin,  Exchequer  of,  75 

Edward  the  Confessor,  Great 
Crown  of,  42, 

Laws  of,  205 

Edward  I.,  64,  65,  74,  82,  168, 
173,  215 

Edward  II.,  74,  82,  85,  183 
Edward  III.,  183 

Subsidies  granted  in  the  reign 
of,  217 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  45 
Eft  ham,  42 

Estreats,  Clerk  of  the,  85 
Everdon,  William  de,  Remem- 
brancer, 86 

Exchequer,  The,  68,  69,  72-74 
Early  constitution  of  the,  82 
Establishment  of  the,  64,  85, 
86 

v Expansion  of  the,  84 
Preparation  of  the,  139 
Examples  from  the,  140-2 
Etymology  of  the,  1 1 7, 1 35, 1 36 
Sessions  of  the,  16,  64,  75 
Reorganization  of  the,  17 
Position  of  the,  34,  68,  70 


228  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer . 


Exchequer,  described  in  the  Dia- 
logus,  70-73 
Divisions  of  the,  72,  75 
under  Henry  I.,  161 
under  Henry  II.,  165 
in  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  72, 
87,  88 

in  the  reign  of  Anne,  104-108 
in  the  eighteenth  century, 
108-113 

reformed  under  William  IV., 
”3 

held  at  Berwick,  75 
Carlisle,  75 
Carnarvon,  75 
Chester,  75 

removed  to  Northampton,  74 
held  at  Northampton,  75 
Oxford,  75 
Salisbury,  75 
Winchester,  75 
Woodstock,  75 

transferred  to  York,  19,  74, 
86 

Sessions  held  at  York,  75 
removed  to  the  City  Hustings, 
74 

removed  during  the  Great 
Fire,  76 

Last  removal  of  the,  76 
revived  at  Westminster,  76 
Houses  of  the,  15,  18,  62,  71 
rebuilt,  28 

apparatus  or  impedimenta : 
Chess-game  of  the,  114  et 
seq. 

Counters  in  use  at  the, 
118,  124,  126 
Dots,  128-130,  132,  146 
Foils  of  tallies  preserved 
in  the,  133 

Summonses  of  the,  149 
Symbols  of  the,  55-58, 
132,  220,  222 
Table,  90,  221 
Tallies,  63,  118,  119,  124, 
222 

Tellers’  Chamber  in  the, 
54 

Writs  of  the,  155 
Barons  of  the,  66,  198 
Chancellor  of  the,  83 


Exchequer,  Green  wax,  173 

Officers  of  the,  qq  et  seq,  91,  m 
exempted  from  taxes,  89 
Remembrancer  of  the,  92 
Smelter  of  the,  71 
Usher  of  the,  68,  72,  81 
Attendance  of  sheriffs  at  the, 
154 

Bills,  36 
Chamber,  199 
Court,  54,  170 
Pells  Office  of  the,  8 5 
Problems,  135. 

of  Receipt,  67,  73,  122,  138, 
160 

Records.  See  Records. 
Treasury  of  the,  15,  16 
Contents,  19 

Robbery  of,  19,  2t,  25- 
28,  45,  96-104 
Upper,  165 

Upper  and  lower,  71,  72,  77 
Exchequer  of  Dublin,  75 
of  the  Jews,  75 
of  Pleas,  86 
for  Scotland,  75 
in  the  Tower,  75 
for  Wales,  75 
in  the  Wardrobe,  75 

Fairs,  Boston,  109 
Lenn  (Lynn),  109 
Fanshawe,  Sir  Henry,  91,  92,  108 
Farley,  Abraham,  113 
Fitz-Neale,  Richard.  See  London, 
Bishop  of. 

Fitz-Nigel,  Richard.  See  London, 
Bishop  of. 

Fleet  Prison,  Keeper  of  the,  18 
Warder  of  the,  68 
Foulmire  (Cambridge),  168 
Francis  I.,  Seal  of,  21 1 

Gable  money,  180 
rents,  205 

Gamage,  Dorothe,  Letter  of,  92,  93 
Mr.,  Letter  to,  92 
George  III.,  Exchequer  during  the 
reign  of,  88 

Godolphin,  Lord  Treasurer,  re- 
port of  his  installation,  104-108 
Green  wax,  Institution  of  the,  173 


Index. 


229 


Hanapers,  Description  of,  53,  220 
Harold,  King,  6 

Henry  I.,  Exchequer  reorganized 
under,  161,  162,  165 
Pipe  Roll  of,  179 

Henry  II.,  77,  81,  82,  84,  90,  138, 
144,  165 

Pipe  Rolls  of,  179 
Ilenrv  III.,  84,  85,  183,  184 

Exchequer  in  the  reign  of,  167  j 
Henry  VI.,  183 

Houses  of  the  Exchequer,  15,  18,  ' 
28,  62,  71 

Ilchester,  Richard,  Archdeacon  of, 

83 

James  I.,  173 

Jewel  House,  Erection  of,  33 
Jews,  Exchequer  of  the,  75 
John,  King,  183,  184 

Kent,  County  of,  165 

King’s  Court,  Justices  of  the,  66 

Ledcombe  (Berks),  Tally  relating 
to,  121 

Lenn,  Fair  of,  199 
Liberate,  Writ  of.  156 
Lincoln,  County  of,  165 
London,  193,  200 

City  of,  Exchequer  removed 
to  the  hustings  in,  74 
See  Exchequer,  Tower,  Ward- 
robe. 

London,  Bishop  of,  1,  35,  75,  180 
Richard,  Bishop  ot,  122,  125 
Lynn.  See  Lenn. 

Mildmaye,  Sir  Walter,  Letter  to, 
96-104 

Mint,  The,  36,  75 

Nichife,  Clerk  of  the,  85 
Nonsuch,  Exchequer  removed  to, 
for  safety,  76 

Normandy,  Exchequer  of,  63 
Northampton,  Exchequer  removed 
to,  74 

Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Oxford,  Exchequer  held  at,  75,  76 


Papal  Bulls,  Collection  of,  54 
Pells  Office,  Origin  of  the,  85 
Pipe,  Comptroller  of  the,  83 

Etymology  of  the  name,  136 
Rolls.  See  Records  of  the 
Exchequer. 

Podelicote,  Richard  de,  23 
Confession  of,  25-28,  45 
Privy  Seal,  Writ  of,  193 
Pyx,  Chapel  of  the,  28 
Sealing  of  the,  71 
Trial  of  the,  71,  160 

Records  of  the  Exchequer,  209, 210 
Black  Book  59,  104,  113 
Exactory  Roll,  48,  59,  169 
Exannual  Roll  of  the,  169 
Great  or  Pipe  Rolls,  15,  53, 
59,  64,  135,  167,  179,  184, 

185 

Memoranda  Rolls,  84 
Originalia  Rolls,  170 
Pipe  Rolls  of  Henry  II.  in  the, 
179 

Red  Book,  48,  59,  90 
Summonses,  150 
Writs,  155 
Regalia,  Notices  of  the,  18 
Inventories  of  the,  42 
Relics  amongst  the,  43-45 
Relics,  Description  of,  in  the  trea- 
sury, 43-45 

Remembrancer  of  the  Exchequer, 
92 

Remembrancer,  Office  of  the,  84, 
85,  89 

Revenue,  Sources  of,  176,  1 77 
Richard  I.,  184 

Coronation  of,  42 
Richard  II.,  183 

his  visit  to  the  treasury,  42 
Rievaulx,  Ailred  of,  4 
Rolls.  See  Records. 

Saint  John,  Knights  of,  60 
Salisbury,  Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Roger,  Bishop  of,  40,  64,  162 
Sandwich,  193,  200 
Scotland,  Exchequer  for,  75 
Seals,  Uses  of,  46,  47,  21 1 
Seals  of  Golden  Leagues.  61,  163 
171,  211,  223 


230  Antiquities  of  the  Exchequer. 


Sessions  of  the  Exchequer,  16,  64, 

75. 

Sheriffs,  attendance  at  Exchequer, 
154 

Skippets,  Description  of,  53,  220 
Smelter  of  the  Exchequer,  71 
Southampton,  Port  of,  8 
Stafford,  Robert  de,  his  accounts 
as  sheriff,  144-148 
Staffordshire,  Sheriff’s  account  for, 
144 

Stanton,  W.,  Confession  of,  96-104 
Stapleton,  Bishop,  49,  91 
his  calendar,  87 

Stephen,  King,  Alienations  by,  179 
Stratton,  Adam  de,  Chamberlain 
of  the  Exchequer,  82 
Subsidies,  Grant  of,  216 
Swereford,  Alexander  de,  91 
Symbols,  Exchequer,  55-8, 132,  220, 
222 

Tallage,  161 

Tallies,  Exchequer,  63,  118,  119, 
121,  124,  133,  222 
Tellers’  Chamber  in  Exchequer,  54 
Temple,  Knights  of  the,  59 
Terra  Regis,  178 
Testa  de  Neville , 59 
Tower  of  London,  Wardrobe  in 
the,  33 

Black  Hall  in  the,  35 
Treasury  in  the,  35 
Great  Hall  in  the,  35 
Bullion  in  the,  36 
Jewels  in  the,  45 
Exchequer  in  the,  75 
Treasure,  Removal  of,  10,  1 6 
Treasury,  Position  of  the,  11-15 
Contents  of  the,  17,  18,  19 
Robbery  of  the,  15,  19-22,  96- 
104 

Swords  of  State  in  the,  43 
Visit  of  Richard  II.  to  the,  42 
Treasury,  Three  Golden  Leagues 
of  the,  61 

See  also  Westminster  and 
Winchester. 


Usher  of  the  Exchequer,  68,  72,  81 

Vernon,  Mrs.,  Letter  to,  95 

Wales,  Exchequer  for,  75 
Wallingford,  Roger  of,  81 
Wardrobe,  The,  18,  33,  36,  48,  75, 
200 

Keeper  of  the,  narrative  of 
the,  29,  30 

Warwick,  County  of,  165 
Westminster,  Treasury  at,  3-6,  9, 
10,  17,  64,  72 
Four  treasuries  at,  35 
Contents  of  the  treasuries  at,  60 
Legend  of  the  treasury  at,  5 
Exchequer  revived  at,  76 
Exchequer  houses  at,  1 5 
The  King’s  Court  at,  65 
Ordinance  for  Customs  at 
(1275),  203 
Law  Courts  at,  64 
Norman  watch-tower  at,  69 
Palace  of,  64,  65,  70 
Sketch-plan  of,  30,  219 
Westminster  Abbey,  Monks  of, 
convicted  of  robbery,  33 
Osbert,  Prior  of,  4 
Plan  of,  30,  219 
Scriptorium  of,  72 
Whitehall,  The  treasury  situated 
at,  36 

William  II.,  his  Great  Hall,  8,  65, 
69 

Winchester,  8 

Treasury  at,  3,  9,  IO,  16,  17 
Exchequer  held  at,  75 
Castle  of,  64 
Trial  at,  9 

Winchester,  Bishop  of,  his  Ex- 
chequer, 75 

Wolverley,  Bishop  of  Winchester’s 
Exchequer  at,  75 
Woodstock,  Exchequer  at,  75 
Wotton,  Robert  of,  86 

York,  Transfer  of  Exchequer  to,  19 
Exchequer  removed  to,  74 


THE  END. 


Elliot  Stock , Paternoster  Row,  London. 


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